Garin dengvaxia issue won’t affect my candidacy

FORMER Department of Health (DOH) secretary Janet Garin believes that the criminal and administrative charges against her over the Dengvaxia controversy will not affect her candidacy in the first congressional district race.

Voting 14-0, the House committees on good government and public accountability and health recommended the filing of cases against Garin, former president Benigno Aquino III, ex-budget chief Florencio Abad, Family Health Office officer-in-charge Maria Joyce Ducusin, Members of the PCMC bids and award committee, resigned undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) director Julius Lecciones.

In an interview on Feb 5, Garin said the Dengvaxia controversy is a “recycled issue” and only resurfaced just in time for the election season.

“So I believe maybe its political season kag ti panahon sang election daw ginapukaw ini nga isyu but may we accept and we ready to face this new cases filed kay although amo man ini nga ginabalik-balik,” she said.

She is confident that the issue will not affect her candidacy in the May 2019 polls since her constituents in the first district believe that she is not involved in any corruption.

“Kay ti una bes kilala man ako sang taga-premier district and raku man kabalo nga indi matuod ang aksusasyon and it’s a highly political issue,” she said.

Garin admitted that she had no idea on the decision of the House panels since the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman have their own ongoing investigations.

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), on the other hand, said they will not stop in finding the link of the Dengvaxia vaccine to the deaths of some patients, Garin added.

She said that the PAO “seems to pressure the President”.

But Garin said President Rodrigo Duterte is looking closely at the issue and knows how to identify the truth.

“Nakita ya man because this the program implemented initially during my time pero ang nag-expand kag mas raku implementar si Sec Ubial sa current administration so indi man ina ran pag-continue kon indi kabalo nga insakto ang programa,” she added.