Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said that he is not convinced that former President Benigno Aquino III is criminally liable for the botched P3.5-billion dengue vaccination program.
“Ang aking reservation ay patungkol kay former president PNoy dahil sa aking pagbasa ng report at sa aking pag-analyze ng situation, si PNoy ay hindi naman doctor at siya ay nagre-rely sa mga advice ng kanyang Secretary lalo na pagdating sa medical and technical advices," Gatchalian said during the weekly Kapihan sa Senado forum.
“Si Garin, being a doctor, he relied on the advice of the former Secretary pagdating sa pag-administer dito ng (when it came to the administration of) Dengvaxia. Wala rin akong nakitang report na sinadya ni PNoy na i-administer ito or showed hidden motives or bad faith. So I would assume that he administered Dengvaxia because of the advice of his Secretary for Health.”
“Hindi ako kumbinsido na criminally liable siya. He might be accountable to the whole program because at the end, he is the president, and the president should be accountable to all actions of the government. However, criminally liable, hindi ako sang-ayon doon, dahil nga at the end, si Secretary Garin ang nagrekomenda.”
“But accountability doesn’t mean that you are also criminally liable, so pag-aaralan natin ang participation niya pagdating dito.”
"Investigations, in fact, pointed to Garin as the “prime mover” of the botched program because it was she who made the recommendation."
“Siya talaga ang gumawa ng paraan para magkaroon ng budget dahil wala naman talagang budget ito eh — from zero budget nagkaroon ng PHP3.5 billion budget — at siya rin ang gumawa ng paraan para malagay ito sa Philippines’ Children Center. So she is really the prime mover of this Dengvaxia fiasco.”
“Mas mahirap i-monitor ang community-based so in my mind, we cannot hide the fact that Secretary Ubial also administered new cases of Dengvaxia. So she is equally liable, just like Secretary Garin.”
“Sa akin, hindi tamang dahilan because why would you give in to peer pressure ng mag politiko? Ang kapalit doon ay buhay naman ng mga bata at kababayan natin. In fact, she succumbed to the pressure to save her job, to save her employment for being a secretary in the government. So para sa akin, hindi po tama ito. Kung hindi niya tinuloy ito, hindi sana nadagdagan ang nabigyan ng Dengvaxia na umabot ng 347,000 na mga bata,” Gatchalian said.
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