Senate panel files report on Dengvaxia
THE SENATE blue-ribbon committee filed on Monday its committee report on the investigation into the Dengvaxia controversy as majority of its members have signed its recommendations.
“I am happy that it will be discussed on the floor because this is where we’re supposed to debate, and not outside of it. We should debate within the rules,” committee chair Senator Richard J. Gordon said in a statement on Tuesday.
The blue- ribbon committee and the committee on health conducted an investigation into the previous administration’s purchase of the Dengvaxia vaccines worth P3.5 billion.
The committee report recommended the filing of graft charges against former president Benigno S.C. Aquino III, former health secretary Janette L. Garin, former budget secretary Florencio B. Abad as well as other officials in the Department of Health (DoH).
Mr. Gordon has said 14 senators from the two committees have signed Committee Report No. 368, which included Senators Gordon, Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, Vicente C. Sotto III, Gregorio B. Honasan II, Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, Juan Edgardo M. Angara, Nancy S. Binay-Angeles, Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, Francis G. Escudero, Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, Ralph G. Recto, Cynthia A. Villar and Loren B. Legarda.
Senators Panfilo M. Lacson and Franklin M. Drilon earlier said they refused to sign the committee report, noting that Mr. Gordon had already prejudged the results of the investigation and that the report lacked basis to recommend the filing of graft charges.
Mr. Gordon assured there was nothing political in the investigation or in the report submitted by his committee, saying the aim of the inquiry was to protect children and insulate the Department of Health (DoH) from politics.
“We don’t want to blame but there is no doubt that they are at fault because they hurt many children without consideration,” he said in Filipino.
The report recommended a sufficient budget for the treatment of vaccinated children and sero- testing to determine who were previously afflicted with dengue. It also proposed to authorize the allocations of a portion of the P1.2 billion refunded by Sanofi Pasteur for unused vaccines.