PAO urges inhibition of DoJ official re Dengvaxia cases

Acosta said that the PAO is in the belief that his being the former counsel of Garin, ‘by and in itself, undoubtedly creates the appearance of impropriety.’

The Public Attorney’s Office on Tuesday has asked President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to order the inhibition of a ranking DoJ official from supervising the National Prosecution Service which has jurisdiction over Dengvaxia cases.

PAO chief Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta also refuted media reports that her agency wants to take over the prosecution of those charged in the controversial case led by former Health secretary and now Iloilo First District Representative Janette Garin.

She disclosed that they got hold of a DoJ circular dated 13 September 2022, which indicated the duties and responsibilities of its officials — including Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes Andres, whose one of his functions is the supervision of NSP.

In a letter sent to the President and the DoJ, Acosta stressed that the supervision is evident from a 10 October 2022 memorandum by the DoJ’s panel of prosecutors, which prompted her to request for the panel’s inhibition from prosecuting the dengvaxia cases in court.

“It is apparent from the memorandum that the panel members are reporting to Undersecretary Andres; the memorandum addressed to the Honorable Secretary of Justice having been coursed through Undersecretary Andres, along with Prosecutor General Malcontento and Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Fadullon,” Acosta said.

“Relative to this, it must be stressed that Undersecretary Andres was the former counsel of one of the accused in the Dengvaxia cases, former Department of Health Secretary Janette Garin,” she added, as she showed photos of Andres and Garin during the highly-publicized preliminary investigation of the Dengvaxia cases.

This means to impute any irregularity on the part of Andres, Acosta said that the PAO is in the belief that his being the former counsel of Garin, “by and in itself, undoubtedly creates the appearance of impropriety.”

Acosta added that while the PAO wishes not to forthrightly accuse the undersecretary of undue interference and meddling in the outcome of Dengvaxia cases, it bears stressing that there are already circumstances which may engender such suspicion.