The Department of Justice on Thursday denied the plea of former Health secretary Janette Garin to admit as evidence the affidavit of a pathologist that she insisted would shed light on the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
In its resolution, the DOJ’s panel of prosecutors headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Ma. Emilia Victorio junked the motion of Garin to admit as evidence the affidavit of Dr. Raymundo Lo, an expert pathologist specializing in anatomic and clinical pathology, because of the “very late submission” of his affidavit.
The investigating fiscals said that the panel was conducting a full-blown trial and not a preliminary investigation and is the proper venue to discuss and thresh out the evidence of both parties in the criminal case filed against Garin and other former and current DOH officials for the deaths of nine children vaccinated with Dengvaxia.
Aside from Garin, also included in the criminal complaints are executives of Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of the anti-dengue vaccine, and Zuellig Pharma, the local distributor of the vaccine.
The deaths of nine children was part of the first criminal case against Garin and her co respondents while a second case involving the deaths of eight children have also been filed with the DOJ.
The panel said Garin received the complaint last May 24 and was given 30 days to submit her counter-affidavit.
Garin submitted her counter-affidavit last June 25, while the complainants-parents and guardians of the children who died after being inoculated with the controversial anti-dengue vaccine filed their reply last August 1. The DOJ panel noted that Garin had submitted her rejoinder last Aug. 28.
The DOJ panel ruled that Garin failed to justify the late submission of Lo’s affidavit as part of her defense.
The rejoinder is the last required pleadings in the conduct of preliminary investigation before the panel of prosecutors would deem the complaint submitted for resolution.
“The parties have been adequately accorded due process with the submission of their respective pleadings. At any rate the matters raised in the alleged expert testimony of Dr. Lo are evidentiary in nature and as such it is better threshed out in a full-blown trial before the court,” the resolution stated.
“It cannot therefore be denied that respondent Garin was given ample time and opportunity to ventilate her defense,” it said.
Last month, Garin asked the DOJ to admit Lo’s affidavit as part of her evidence, saying his expertise as a pathologist will aid the panel of prosecutors in ferreting out the truth in the controversy surrounding the Dengvaxia mess as well as dispel misleading opinion and information on the issue.
However, the panel said it was too late for Garin to do so. “That was more than enough time for her to secure the affidavits of her witnesses, including Dr. Raymundo Lo. It is indeed very late in the day for her to submit the affidavit of a witness at this time,” the panel said.
The DOJ also said that Garin failed to submit an explanation why Lo’s affidavit was submitted late.
The complainants assisted by the Public Attorney’s Office, opposed Garin’s motion saying it would be best to test Lo’s credibility and testimony in a full-blown trial rather than in the preliminary investigation where prosecutors are just tasked with finding if there is probable cause to warrant the filing of the case before the trial court.
Earlier, the DOJ dismissed the libel complaints filed by Garin and her husband, Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin Jr., against former DOH Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial in connection with statements the latter uttered related to the Dengvaxia mess.
In dismissing the complaint, the DOJ said the Garin couple failed to prove that there was malice in the statement issued by Ubial and three other respondents: former DOH consultant Dr. Francisco Cruz, Dr. Anthony Leachon and former DOH executive Dr. Teodoro Herbosa- linking them to the allegedly anomalous implementation of the dengue vaccination program that started in 2016.
A total of 860, 000 people, including 830, 000 children, from Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu were inoculated with Dengvaxia.
The immunization program was started during the time of then president Benigno Aquino III and continued by the Duterte administration before the DOH stopped the program in November 2017 after Sanofi announced that it might pose risks to those who are without history of dengue infection.