MAINTAINING that his conscience is clear, former President Benigno Aquino III said he made a judgment call and approved the dengue vaccination program to immediately address the rising incidence of dengue fever in the country.
Aquino, who was grilled by the Senate blue ribbon and health committees on Thursday, December 14 on the vaccination program, said the dengue cases in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Central Luzon needed immediate action and government had to act fast against an epidemic.
“Ang trabaho po namin ay gawin ang tama para sa mamamayan upang mapakalma sila at mabigyan lunas ang problema at ng walang pangamba,” Aquino said.
“Sumipa ng 20 beses and dengue sa Region 8 at nuong mga panahon na iyon ay inuumpisahan pa lang ang libreng PhilHealth para sa lahat. Nag-activate tayo ng dengue express lane sa mga ospital sa tulong ng National Prevention and Control Program, mosquito trap gamit ang fogging at pati insectide sa mga tinamaan na lugar. Sinuma namin na tatayang gastos sa 2.8 million na tatamaan kung sakali ay aabot ng P58.2 billion na kakailanganin kung sakali ng ating gobyerno, kasama na ang blood transfusion kung sakali,” Aquino said, in defense of the P3.5-billion program.
The Senate launched an investigation into the program, after the Department of Health suspended it on December 1 in light of new findings by pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur that its Dengvaxia vaccine may cause severe dengue in individuals who have not contracted the virus prior to immunization. The Philippine government spent P3.5 billion for the procurement of Dengvaxia, the world's first licensed dengue vaccine.
The former President admitted that he met with Sanofi officials on Nov. 9, 2014, in Beijing, China, and on Dec. 1, 2015, in Paris, France.
He said that as far as he can recall, no one advised him against Dengvaxia.
He also noted that the United States Food and Drug Authority had cleared Dengvaxia, following the requisite clinical trials.
“Ang intindi natin sa Dengvaxia nagdaan ito sa US FDA ng tamang proseso kabilang na ang discovery development, clinical research at safe market monitoring," he said.
"Sinabi nuon ng Sanofi na ready at safe ang bakuna. Maraming pangamba. Para sa akin , trabaho ng gobyerno ang pakalmahin ang tao,” Aquino added.
Aquino said former Health secretary Enrique Ona back in 2010 issued a memorandum on the increasing dengue cases, especially in five regions. The memorandum also said about 2.8 million people faced the possibility of becoming a dengue victim.
Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, pointed out that the budget for the procurement of the vaccines was not included in the General Appropriations Act of 2016.
He also noted the haste with which the budget for the procurement of the vaccines was approved.
Aquino said that they had to act fast against an imminent dengue epidemic.
“Tama po ang sinabi niyo na mabilis ang naging aksyon namin dito. If by December 31 you do not utilize the fund ay mahihirapan ka na makahingi ng pondo para dito. It will require new sources of revenue which is difficult . And if we fail to spend this before the year ends, we will have to wait again for the next budget cycle. This vaccine is a prevention and this is not a cure," he said.
Former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, who was also present, said there was nothing illegal in the purchase of the vaccine.
The Philippines approved the acquisition of Dengvaxia in December 2015, the first in Asia, and the vaccination program began in April 2016.
Gordon, who earlier raised the possibility of conspiracy in the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccines from Sanofi Pasteur, asked Aquino if he was familiar with the many cases filed against the pharmaceutical company in various countries for bribery and making false claims.
Aquino said he was not familiar with the cases. (PS Jun Sarmiento/SunStar Philippines)