Janette Garin

After quietly fading from public view when her term ended in June 2016, the former health secretary was thrust back into the limelight, no thanks to the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia furor. Since she was involved in the initial phase of the immunization, the public looked to her for answers. She briefly explained that the vaccine program was implemented “in line” with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). The story doesn’t end there. According to ABS-CBN, quoting a Department of Foreign Affairs report, she met with executives of the vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur in May 2015 in Paris, to discuss the price of Dengvaxia, creating a demand for it in the Philippines, and justifying a budgetary allocation for it, and even toured the Neuville Dengue Facility in Lyon. She denied the meeting, but confirmed the tour.