DOJ asks VACC to complete info on Dengvaxia raps vs. Noynoy Aquino

Prosecutors with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday asked the groups that have filed a criminal complaint against former President Benigno Aquino III and  former officials over the Dengvaxia mess to submit required information that was lacking in their original complaint.

At a clarificatory hearing, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rossane Balauag set an April 20 deadline for the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Incorporated (VPCI) to turn in the names and addresses of all the respondents in their criminal complaint.

These include 20 to 30 respondents each from French drug maker Sanofi Pasteur and the drug's local distributor Zuellig Pharma, who they failed to name when they first filed their complaint in February.

The DOJ also set for the record that Aquino and his co-respondents had not yet been issued subpoenas—contrary to the claim of VACC lawyer Manuelito Luna prior to the hearing—hence their non-appearance at Friday morning's proceeding.

The panel of prosecutors would first have to evaluate the documents the VACC and the VPCI would submit before deciding if the respondents would be summoned, said Balauag, who chairs the panel.

The panel led by Balauag also denied the groups' request for the DOJ to submit documents from seven government agencies in connection with their complaint.

"It is not for the panel to collate evidence for you. You should be the one submitting to us the evidence," she told Luna and his companions.

Luna then said said they already have some of the documents in their possession, later explaining that this renders their letter request moot and academic.

After the hearing, he denied the deficiencies in their complaint were a sign of the "weakness" of their case against Aquino and his former officials.

"It's a matter of legal technique. It's a tactic on our part and we were successful in Comelec; there's no reason why we could not cause the issuance of subpoena here now that we have all the documents in our possession. So let us not draw conclusions yet," Luna said.

Their complaint accuses Aquino, former Health secretary Janette Garin, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad and severel other officials of committing multiple homicide and physical injuries through criminal negligence, graft, technical malversation, and violation of the procurement law for the purchase of Dengvaxia.

The VACC has also filed a complaint against Aquino, Garin and other officials for alleged violation of the election law when they released government funds for the purchase of the anti-dengue vaccine within a number of days before the 2016 election period. —KG, GMA News