Noynoy’s Senate appearance not a first for an ex-president

Former President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday attended a Senate hearing on the government's P3.5-billion deal with Sanofi Pasteur for its anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia during his administration.

The immunization of at least 800,000 students, begun during Aquino's term and continued under Duterte's, was halted after the pharmaceutical company announced late last month that Dengvaxia may increase the risk of hospitalization for dengue and severe dengue in those with no prior infection.

At the hearing, Aquino defended his administration's striking the deal, saying that there had been no objections to Dengvaxia at the time.

He also denied that the purchase of the vaccine had been "rushed."

FVR

It is rare, but not unprecedented, for a former president to appear before a Congressional hearing.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos attended Congressional hearings on three issues.

In 2000, he attended a Senate hearing on the controversy-laden Centennial Expo (Expo Pilipino) project in Pampanga, a multibillion-peso boondoggle that was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Philippines' centennial celebrations in 1998 but was beset with alleged irregularities and eventually closed after suffering losses.

Ramos also appeared before both houses of Congress on more than one occasion regarding the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP), which used funds from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

In August 2006, Ramos appeared as a resource person at a Senate hearing on the Masinloc plant, during which he denied involvement in the privatization deal struck by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) and the YNN Pacific consortium for the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

Erap

Former president and current Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada also faced a Congressional hearing, and did so while detained on unrelated plunder charges.

In 2003, Estrada testified at the Senate hearing on the government's multimillion-dollar deal with Argentine company IMPSA.

He claimed that the hydroelectric power firm tried to bribe him with $14 million in 1999 to expedite the finalization of a multimillion-dollar deal to rehabilitate and operate the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan plant in Laguna. — BAP, GMA News