The Office of Ombudsman filed graft and technical malversation charges against former Health secretary and now Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin and three others for alleged illegal use of public funds under the Aquino administration.
The anti-graft court filed the case on October 24 against Garin and her co-accused former Department of Health (DoH) undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Maria Joyce Ducusin who, based on the charge sheet, held the position of officer in charge-director at the DoH at the time material to the case, and former Philippine Children's Medical Center executive director Julius Lecciones.
According to the Ombudsman, these officials were heavily involved in the realignment of the department's budget worth PHP 3.5 billion for the purchase and roll-out of Dengvaxia vaccines for public school students.
The amount was meant to augment the budget of the DoH's Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), according to the charge sheet.
"However, the said amount was instead used to purchase Dengvaxia vaccines which are not part of the EPI [...]", the Ombudsman stated.
In a statement, Garin said she welcomed the case, emphasizing that there was no corruption involved in the purchase of the vaccines.
"Globally, the Philippines got the cheapest price. The whole world is continuously using the vaccine. It's listed in World Health Organization's Essential Medicines List which means all countries are mandated to make it available to its people at all times. The nuance between pro-vaccine and anti-vaxxers is part of the challenges of doctors and vaccinologists like us," Garin said.
"We just followed [the] DBM-issued SARO. Hence, better to present sa court para matapos na rin [it to the court for this to end]," Garin noted.
