(Eagle News)–The Palace on Wednesday, Feb. 6, reiterated whoever violates the law will have to be held liable regardless of social status and political affiliation.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement after a House of Representatives joint panel recommended the filing of charges against former President Benigno Aquino III, former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and former Health Secretary Janette Garin, among others, over the Dengvaxia mess.
Panelo said the Palace deferred to the decision, which he said was made by a “separate and co-equal branch of government.”
He said the Department of Justice “will perform its task of evaluating the evidence presented before it and rule on the existence of probable cause against the respondents.”
“Let the legal process take its course and those found responsible be held administratively, criminally and civilly liable,” he said.
Over 800,000 schoolchildren were administered the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine under the then-Aquino government.
The program was stopped under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte following revelations by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine’s manufacturer, that the vaccine could cause severe dengue in subjects who have not had dengue beforehand.
