WHY worry about the anti-dengue multibillion-peso scandal now spreading faster than the speed of light in the press and cyberspace when there’s a quick and simple solution?
Dengvaxia, the heart of the problem that is now causing so much tension, is a preventive drug, according to French Pharmaceutical Company Sanofi Pasteur Asia-Pacific head Thomas Triomphe.
Indeed, Triomphe issued an official statement at the joint congressional hearing, thus: “The fact that other nations from all over the world are not taking Dengvaxia off the shelve would prove that Sanofi Pasteur is telling the truth that the vaccine is safe.”
“Your honors, it is an inescapable truth that, in the Philippines dengue is not just a risk. It is a reality. It is not isolated or just here and there. It is endemic. It is everywhere. As such, the Philippines stands to benefit most from Dengvaxia,” Triomphe told lawmakers.
Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III accused Sanofi of “mental dishonesty” for allegedly not disclosing all the risks behind the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
“You could have been forthright from the very beginning,” Duque told Sanofi Pasteur representatives led by Thriomphe at the joint hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon and Health and Demography Committees.
“My index of suspicion is so high,” Duque said, stressing that Sanofi did not disclose sufficient details regarding Dengvaxia.
“I am pregnant with doubt. We’re talking about the lives of people here. We’re talking of children,” Duque said.
At the joint hearing last Thursday, former President Benigno S. Aquino III said his decision to approve the purchase of the P3.5-billion controversial vaccine in December 2015 was based on experts’ initial advice.
“It was my belief at that time, all the experts that we had consulted, it was safe,” Aquino said in a briefing after attending the Senate probe.
Sen. Richard J. Gordon, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman, questioned the unusual speed with which the vaccination program was funded, less than 30 days and after Aquino had met with Sanofi Pasteur officials in Paris, France on December 1, 2015.
Gordon said immediately after the Paris meeting, a Special Allotment Release Order was received by the Philippine Children Medical Center, and the fund was later given by Malacanang.
Over 830,000 grade schoolers and other people were injected with the drug, including 15,000 policemen, who got the injection, too.
In my column earlier, I reported that the Senate is just tasked, in aid of legislation, to investigate wrongdoings of government officials and attached agencies, including government-owned and -controlled corporations, and suggest new laws and propose amendments to existing laws.
The primary task of determining criminal and civil liabilities are with the state’s executive and judicial branches, as well as the constitutional commissions: Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission and the Commission on Human Rights.
Curiously, the four constitutional bodies tasked by the Constitution to strictly observe and enforce the Code of Ethical Standard for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713), which was approved on February 20, 1989 by former President Corazon C. Aquino, have not created even just a whimper of concern for the protection of the victims.
So let me, therefore, offer this quick solution to at least lessen the tension and dispel some doubts over the safety of the drug, which is now the main issue worrying the land that can turn its psychological effect on the victims into physical violence, considering the number of affected children, parents, relatives, friends and supporters that can rapidly multiply into millions and form a formidable united front of angry people:
1. Inject with the vaccine those who are defending its safety beginning with the Sanofi Pasteur representatives, former President Benigno S. Aquino III, former Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, former Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad, former Health Secretary Janette Garin and others.
2. Include also the senators, congressmen and lawyers defending them, as well as trolls and public relations men obfuscating and manipulating issues in the press and the social media.
3. Have the four constitutional bodies closely monitor the process of injecting the vaccine.
The best venue for this is in the session hall of the Senate with full live media coverage.
This will automatically dispel any doubt that Dengvaxia is risky and its purchase illegal.
It will also stop the usual practice of finger pointing and scapegoating among government officials involved in the controversy.
Simple and doable, isn’t it?
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.