PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has no plans of launching a witch hunt against his predecessor, former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, over the P3.5-billion Dengvaxia mess, Malacañang said Tuesday, June 5.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Aquino should not worry, since Duterte has been "very laid-back" over the controversial anti-dengue vaccination program.
"Well, I think the President has been very laid-back on the issue of Dengvaxia," Roque said in an interview in Seoul, Korea.
"So I think the former president should give credit to President Duterte because he could have made this into a political witch hunt. And he did not," he added.
On Monday, June 4, Aquino admitted that the possibility of suffering the same fate as detained Senator Leila de Lima has crossed his mind.
"I can't help but think of that possibility," Aquino said in an interview, as he feared that he might end up getting jailed like De Lima.
Aquino is currently facing complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, and the Commission on Elections over his alleged involvement in the controversial national anti-dengue vaccination project launched during his term.
The former president is also facing a case before the Sandiganbayan over the 2015 Mamasapano fiasco that claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force men.
Roque assured Aquino that Duterte would be fair in his decision on the Dengvaxia controversy, once the three-man panel of experts that he formed completes its investigation.
"He (Duterte) has made it clear that he is awaiting the findings of a group of foreign experts. He is not swayed either way by anyone's opinion because so far, all the experts' opinion contradict each other," the Palace official said.
More than 830,000 individuals have reportedly received Dengvaxia since it was launched under Aquino's watch.
In December 2017, the Duterte government suspended the implementation of the anti-dengue vaccination program following Sanofi Pasteur’s admission that Dengvaxia may cause greater risk of severe dengue among seronegative individuals, or those who have not contracted dengue prior to immunization. (SunStar Philippines)