Former Health chief Janette Garin | The Source - video Dailymotion

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A former Health secretary faces graft charges over the purchase of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccines.  Pinky Webb speaks with former Health chief and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 You're watching the Source on CNN Philippines. I'm Pinky Webb. The ombudsman has filed graft

00:07 and technical malversation charges against a former health secretary over the controversial

00:12 school-based dengue vaccination program during the Aquino administration. The case against

00:17 Janet Garin and others were formally, or other officials, was lodged before the Sandigan

00:24 Bayan. The ombudsman says the respondents were involved in the realignment of the health

00:29 department's budget for the purchase and rollout of the Dengvaxia vaccines for public school

00:33 students. After vaccinating over 800,000 young students, the program was abruptly stopped

00:39 in late 2017 after vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur announced Dengvaxia can lead to severe dengue

00:45 if the vaccinee has not caught the virus before the immunization. Let's go straight to the

00:50 source of this story, Iloilo City First District Representative Janet Garin. Congresswoman,

00:56 good to see you again. Welcome to the Source. Thank you for inviting me, Pinky. Good morning.

01:03 Okay, so this Dengvaxia controversy continues to hound you. I'd like to do my best, ma'am,

01:09 to break this down. The latest of which, in terms of the cases that you are facing, let's

01:15 begin with the latest one. This one coming from the ombudsman. It's graft and technical

01:21 malversation cases filed against you, and I believe it's for others, for what is supposed

01:26 to be being said as the unauthorized purchase of Dengvaxia. And a part of it says this,

01:35 "Willingly, unlawfully, and feloniously were responsible for the release of 3.57 billion

01:43 of public funds to increase the budget for the expanded program for immunization or EPI,

01:50 which were used for the purchase of Dengvaxia, which apparently or allegedly is not part

01:56 of the EPI." How do you respond to this, and how do you explain this, Congresswoman?

02:03 That is why, Pinky, it's better discussed in the courts, and we welcome this development.

02:09 Kasi sa tagal na na naka-file na ito. Naka-file, nag-dismiss. Meron na maibang pina-file ito

02:14 sa, and kinalat, no? Not only in the ombudsman, but other government agencies as well. And

02:21 that is why the filing before the Sandigan will be our first step to finally put an end

02:28 to this long-standing issue that has been haunting Filipino scientists, experts, and

02:33 vaccinologists. Now, the allegations of realignment is, of course, not true, and we'll prove that

02:40 in the proper venue, and that is the court. Kasi syempre, we have the complainants in

02:49 the office of the ombudsman. The presentation of everything, in the courts, I mean, when

02:54 you go to the court sa pagkakainting because of what lawyers are saying, that's the time

02:58 that the offices can be subpoenaed. DBM can actually be subpoenaed if indeed there was

03:04 a realignment or not.

03:07 And obviously, ma'am, DBM during the time of the Aquino administration, which would

03:15 be Secretary Butch Abad's time, hindi ho ba?

03:21 Yes, but the documents are still with DBM because as far as we are concerned, the source

03:26 of the augmentation of the immunization program was from the MPBF, or Miscellaneous Personnel

03:32 Benefit Fund. So it's a lump sum under the Office of the Department of Budget and Management

03:38 that can be used to augment programs that needs additional funds. So pagka naubos na

03:45 yung pondo ng pagbabakuna, and you need more vaccines, then DBM can augment not only immunization

03:53 but other programs as well. So the immunization program in the Department of Health, not only

03:59 during my one year of being the Secretary, but ever since, all throughout the several

04:05 decades that DOH has been in existence and has started immunization, the term or what

04:11 we call the bahay is actually called immunization. You don't specify the individual vaccines

04:16 there to give flexibility to the department because you can't predict the number of doses

04:21 or the number of vaccines that you will be needing. Outbreaks can happen, then you pull

04:25 out from that fund. In this case, and also you cannot buy a vaccine, that does not have

04:33 a CPR yet and has not been given an exemption from the PNBF or the Philippine National Drug

04:38 Formulary. And that is the reason why it's a lump sum encompassing all vaccines. So that's

04:44 why again, the best recourse for this to be discussed and finally laid down to rest is

04:50 the court so that all the scientific terminologies will be defined by experts, all the doctors

04:55 will be subpoenaed and presented properly.

04:59 But what is it? I hope you can explain this to us. Wendell Ombudsman was actually saying

05:06 that the Dengvaxia vaccines were not listed in that Volume 1 of the Philippine Drug Formulary

05:14 and have not secured an exemption from being listed in the Philippine Drug Formulary in

05:19 violation of an executive order supposed to be number 48. So in layman's terms for me,

05:26 it is not part of the medicine where this money should have been used because it was

05:34 not part of it, Dengvaxia was not part of it, and there was no exemption whatsoever.

05:39 Put it this way, these are two separate items, Pinky. The program under the budget is immunization.

05:53 So it's general, it's generic. I mean, it's a lump sum for all vaccines that the government

06:01 needs and the government will be needing. So it's for the regular immunization program.

06:06 It's also for vaccines that might be needed in certain circumstances like an outbreak

06:11 or calamities and other vaccines that will be developed during that year. So if that

06:19 funds will be depleted and you need more, DBM can augment that funds from the MPDF.

06:26 It's a lump sum under the DBM. So the DBM augmented the funds of the DOH simply because

06:33 they knew that we already didn't have budget for Dengvaxia. We were waiting for the compliance.

06:40 I mean, this program was announced by two secretaries. They started in 2005, 2010, announced

06:48 in 2014 by Asa Cubiao during that time and Secretary Ona. And now, the augmentation of

06:55 funds was released during my time. So with that development, the department implemented

07:02 the program and the SARO was very specific. The SARO says for the procurement of Dengue

07:08 vaccine in NCR, Region 3, and Region 4A. That's very specific. So what you're saying, the

07:16 PNDF is different. The Philippine National Drug Formulary is in compliance with the Generic's

07:21 law. Now, all devices, medicines, and vaccines that will be purchased by the government should

07:30 be in the PNDF, including local government units. Now, I mean, including the central

07:36 office. Now, the PNDF, the process of applying for that listing takes long. So what happens

07:42 in the Department of Health is that exemptions are being applied by the program director.

07:49 That happens in a lot of cases, like HIV medications, TB medications, cancer medicines, vaccines,

07:57 new devices. So this happens on a constant, weekly, monthly meeting, there are applications

08:04 for exemption. And in this case, Dengvaxia, Dengue vaccine, had a certificate of exemption

08:10 from the PNDF. My role there is to approve or disapprove the recommendation of the Formula

08:16 and Executive Council. And in this case, they recommended approval, which I did and I approved.

08:22 So again, your question is, was there an exemption? Yes. However, the matter by which this can

08:29 be presented is in the courts. Okay. Because the complainant of this case is Attorney Glenn

08:33 Chong. Now, his witnesses is Dr. Tony Lechon and Dr. Cairo, both of whom are not involved

08:43 in the implementation of the program, both of whom are not privy to the process by which

08:50 the program was initiated, then culminated during my time, then expanded and implemented

08:58 again by Secretary Ubyal and Secretary Duque. So it's better to put this in the court because

09:06 it's the best forum where all documents can be examined. And can be shown and presented.

09:13 So to summarize that, when we're talking about this PNDF, it's becoming a little too technical,

09:20 to be honest. Basically, you're saying that you were able to secure an exemption. Did

09:25 I understand that correctly for Dengvaksha? Yes. Okay. All right. Yes. So now we just

09:31 need to take a short break. We need to find out about the word realignment because this

09:37 was used. And I know from previous interviews, you said that there is a saddle for this.

09:45 Let's talk about that after the break. This is The Source on CNN Philippines. Please stay

09:48 tuned.

09:49 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines. I'm Pinky Webb. Our source today, Iloilo City

09:58 First District Representative, Janet Garin. So Congresswoman, there is no question about

10:04 the money, 3.57 billion pesos, supposed to be for Dengvaksha. I hope I'm getting the

10:11 facts straight. So wala pong problema dyan. Ang nagiging problema, according to the ombudsman,

10:16 is that it was supposed to be part of the immunization program, which Dengvaksha was

10:20 not part of. But you were saying that there is an immunization program, an umbrella, to

10:25 which pag nagkulang po yung pera dito, pwede kayong humingi ng extra, where the DBM basically

10:31 augments this and gives the money to you. I hope I summarized that pretty clear enough

10:38 and accurate enough. Yes. So the issue is there is an immunization program, but there

10:43 is no specific Dengvaksha program. Correct. Now, the way it works, Pinky, in the Department

10:48 of Health, the immunization program is actually a line item that covers all vaccines for children,

10:55 the regular immunization program, vaccines for pregnant women, vaccines for senior citizens,

11:00 and new vaccines that will be developed in the course of the year. Kasama po yun don

11:04 sa line item, even the new vaccines that will be developed and may be approved. It's part

11:11 of that. Yes. Okay. Yeah, that's the description. You don't have an item, let's say, example,

11:18 sa budget ng Pilipinas, you don't put there polio vaccine, missiles vaccine, Japanese

11:23 encephalitis vaccine, hepatitis vaccine, because it will not give the department the flexibility

11:31 kung ito minsan nagmahal ang dollars, or there's like shortage, or there's like a calamity

11:36 and you immediately need to buy a certain or there's an outbreak. But Congresswoman,

11:42 I understand that. Hindi naman po pwedeng naka isa isa. That's impossible. Besides,

11:49 but in the immunization program, it clearly states there, basically, you're saying that

11:54 it can include new vaccines. Correct, ma'am? Yes, it covers for regular immunization, vaccines

12:05 for senior citizens, vaccines for pregnant women, and vaccines that may develop during

12:09 the course of the year. So that's very clear. All right. Now, let's talk about this word

12:15 realignment. Could you respond? Was there a realignment, ma'am? Or was it an added amount

12:27 in the form of a sorrow from the DBM, the Department of Budget and Management by then

12:33 Secretary Butch Abad, specifically for the purchase of Dengvaxia? Internally in the Department

12:42 of Health, we did not have any realignment. Okay, because the MPBF is a lump sum fund

12:50 that comes from the Department of Budget and Management. Now, I really, I hope you want

12:56 my pinky. I really want to answer all of the questions that I can answer. However, it's

13:01 best presented in the court. Because when you talk about realignment, like there's

13:11 a funding from a certain program, inside, within the Department of Health. Of course,

13:20 the documents will speak for itself that it did not happen because the funding came from

13:25 the Department of Budget and Management. And it was very clear. It was very specific

13:32 for the procurement of Dengvaxia. In fact, it was also very specific for regions, for

13:38 specific regions, NCR, Region 3 and Region 4A. So, maybe if, like, for example, we implemented

13:44 it in an area outside of the three areas, then maybe I need a lawyer. That could pose

13:50 a problem. That can be misconstrued as technical malversation. I see. I see. I understand.

13:54 In fact, I just raised that, Congresswoman, because this is something you've actually

13:57 said in the past, that you're countering this kind of argument saying that there was no

14:03 realignment of funds at the SARO, or the Special Allotment Release Order, from the DBM clearly

14:11 stated that it was for Dengue vaccines. As you mentioned a while ago, for Central Luzon,

14:16 Calabarzon, and NCR. This is something actually you've said in the past that I've come across

14:21 again and bringing it up now. And also, just to be clear, ma'am, apart from this, I believe

14:29 you have another case that you're facing. Please correct me if I'm wrong, before the

14:34 Quezon City Family Court. This is the one that's supposed to be filed by the DOJ.

14:41 Yes. Yeah, this is the case that's also filed by TAO. Yes. By Presidio Acosta. And the one,

14:48 yeah, and in this case, it was filed by the MPC, by D.B. Smith, it was refiled by D.B.

14:53 Smith. So it's good that the Supreme Court finally decided that all of these cases should

14:57 be handled by a family court. Because what happened before is, it was some sort of like

15:02 a harassment already, because scientists and doctors, you have to go around the whole country,

15:08 because it's different. And then there were, I believe there were, the biggest problem,

15:15 I believe, at the DOJ at that time was, there's a debate on who has the proper, I'm not sure,

15:22 the tech director, I don't know if the proper forum, but who is the proper court to handle

15:29 this? Because if you talk about genocide, if you talk about mass murder, then it doesn't

15:35 fall at the ICC. So those were the questions that caused the debate. So now, this is good

15:42 for us, because in the RTC, actually the public attorney's office has already presented their

15:48 alleged expert witnesses. So that was Dr. Cairo, Tolly Lechon, and Erfe. And then now

15:58 in the Sandigan Bayan, once it starts, they can also present their witness, para ma-rebut

16:04 naman namin at ma-presenta namin yung mga eksperto, ma-presenta namin yung mga dokumento,

16:09 similar to what's happening in the RTC. So bottom line is, this is actually good, because

16:15 it will put an end, once and for all, to the dengue vaccine issue. Because the dengue vaccine

16:20 issue did not only affect the Philippines, did not only affect dengue vaccine, it has

16:26 affected the global immunization coverage, because that is really expected, that's how

16:32 it happens. When you hit or demonize a certain vaccine, it affects the whole vaccination

16:38 process, not only in your country, but the entire global community. You remember the

16:43 missiles and the autism issue in the US, which was proven wrong. The lawyers, natangalan

16:48 ng lisensya, yung doktor natangalan ng lisensya. But the impact of that misinformation or fake

16:53 news spread like fire globally, including the Philippines, kaya marami ang hindi nagpabakuna,

16:59 marami ang namatay. In this case, it's very clear. Dengue has no cure, dengue kills, the

17:06 Philippines is the exporter of dengue throughout the whole world. Mutations are constantly

17:12 happening in the Philippines. And when we talk about vaccination, there are four primary

17:17 purposes. First, to zero deaths. Second, avoid severe cases. Third, avoid hospitalization.

17:24 And fourth, avoid further mutation. And that is why it was supposed to be our global responsibility

17:30 to help solve this problem. Now we are in this situation, the Philippines has been a

17:36 laughingstock in the whole world because it's the only country to stop the vaccination program

17:40 without scientific means. It's continuing in other countries, kaya nga dapat matuldukan

17:46 na ito. So the best venue that all of this will be discussed is in the courts.

17:52 The courts, yes. All right. Maraming salamat po sa inyo. Iloilo City First District Representative

17:56 Janet Grint, thank you. And thank you for joining us here on The Source. I'm Pinky Webb.

18:01 You're watching CNN Philippines.

18:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Former Health chief Janette Garin | The Source

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