Sandiganbayan acquits Janette Garin and four former health officials in Dengvaxia case

The Sandiganbayan Special Second Division has acquitted former Health Secretary and current Iloilo Representative Janette Garin, along with four other former Department of Health (DOH) officials, in a graft and technical malversation case involving the P3.55-billion Dengvaxia vaccine procurement.

The officials cleared include former Undersecretaries Gerardo Bayugo and Kenneth Hartigan-Go, former officer-in-charge director Joyce Ducusin, and former Philippine Children’s Medical Center executive director Julius Lecciones. The case centered on allegations that funds from the 2015 Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund were illegally used to purchase dengue vaccines during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

The anti-graft court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove the officials acted with “evil or sinister design.” The decision noted that the reported adverse effects of the vaccines did not inherently establish criminal intent by the implementers. Furthermore, the court cited a Commission on Audit finding that no public funds were lost, and noted that the vaccine purchase was a response to an active dengue outbreak. Regarding technical malversation, the court observed that the use of funds was directed by former President Aquino III, stating, “The buck stops with the President, so to speak, and not with the member of his cabinet.”