Palace hails Garin indictment

Manila - The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted former Health Secretary Janette Garin and several others for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide over deaths allegedly caused by controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo expressed hope that the indictment would bring “true justice and peace” to families of children who supposedly died because of the inoculation of Dengvaxia. “The wheels of justice have begun to grind for the victims and families of children who died allegedly because of the Dengvaxia vaccine with the Department of Justice finding probable cause to charge former officials responsible for the failed immunization program initiated during their time,” he said.

In a statement on Friday, March 1, state prosecutors found that Garin and other respondents “exhibited ‘inexcusable lack of precaution and foresight’ when they facilitated, with undue haste, ‘the registration and purchase of Dengvaxia’ and used the vaccine in implementing a school-based dengue mass immunization program.”

The state prosecutors also found evidence that Garin and other respondents “circumvented various regulations in the purchase of P3.5 worth of Dengvaxia vaccine, which constituted proof of their reckless imprudence.”

Dengvaxia was administered to over 800,000 individuals during Garin’s stint at the Department of Health (DOH) under the watch of then president Benigno Aquino III.