Filtered By: Topstories
News

Aquino denies election offenses over dengue vaccination program; cries harassment


Former President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday denied he committed electioneering over the implementation of the P3.5-billion dengue immunization program in 2016 and cried "harassment" against his accusers.

"Wala po akong ginawang mali. May kumpiyansa akong imposibleng mapatunayan ang isang pangyayari na hindi kailanman nangyari," he told reporters at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila.

Reacting to the complaint which accuses him of violating the election law, Aquino said the government issued the purchase order for the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia on March 9, 2016, 16 days before the election ban that started on March 25 of the same year.

"Klaro naman pong harassment lang ang punto," he said. "Tama marahil ang sinasabi ng iilan na 'di katarungan ang layunin dito, kundi ang magpapansin para ma-appoint sa puwesto."

Malacañang has left the matter for Comelec to decide.

"We leave this matter to the Comelec because under the Constitution, it is the Comelec that has supervision and control over all election-related activities, including the power to conduct preliminary investigation for election offenses," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a news conference.

Aquino faces a complaint filed by ex-Health consultant Francis Cruz and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), an advocacy group supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte, with the Comelec's legal department.

In compliance with summons from the Comelec, he and former Health secretary Janette Garin appeared at the commission on Thursday morning to attend closed-door proceedings in connection with the complaint.

"The job of protecting the people's health cannot be held in abeyance by elections," Aquino said at a press conference after the proceeding.  

 

 

The VACC's complaint accuses Aquino, Garin, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, and several DOH officials of violating the section of the Omnibus Election Code against releasing and using government funds for election campaign within 45 days before a regular election or 30 days before a special election.

This complaint is among at least three other suits against Aquino and at least four against Garin over the Dengvaxia mess, which erupted when the vaccine's maker Sanofi Pasteur announced that the drug may worsen dengue among those who have not acquired the mosquito-borne infection prior to vaccination.

"Ang reklamong ito, nagmumula po sa kathang-isip at maling layunin. Klarong bagsak ito sa lahat ng pamantayan ng batas at ng katotohanan. Klaro din po na ang nararapat na hantungan ng ganitong reklamo ay ang basurahan," Aquino said.

Asked if the dengue immunization program was mentioned during the election campaign of the Liberal Party in 2016, he said: "If at all, in the general context of what Daang Matuwid is." — with a report by Virgil Lopez/KG/BM, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT