DOJ DROPS LIBEL CASES AGAINST HEALTH OFFICIALS

THE Department of Justice (DoJ) dismissed for insufficient evidence the libel and cyber complaints filed by spouses Rep. Oscar Garin and former Health Secretary Janet Garin against Department of Health officials who exposed the alleged anomalies on the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine. In a resolution that Senior Asst. State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo penned and approved by Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, the DoJ cleared former Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial and doctors Anthony Leachon, Francisco Cruz and Teodoro Herbosa. The complaints were originally filed before the Prosecutor’s Office in Iloilo, Quezon City and Manila, but Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra issued Department Order dated May 21, 2018 which ordered all the cases transferred to the Office of the Prosecutor General. The complaint stemmed from the respondents testimonies before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, wherein the alleged illegal procurement of the vaccine was exposed. Among the issues raised in the complaint were the alleged “mafia” system with the DoJ and collusion of spouses Garin to procure the vaccine to benefit from the P3.5-billion immunization program. But the resolution ruled that the complainants failed to “point out the specific offense or libelous statement against them. In the absence of a specific action attributed to the complainants by the respondents, libel cannot be imputed against respondents,” the resolution said.