(Eagle News) — Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia on Friday said she was only trying to do what she could for her constituents when she asked then-Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial to expand the government’s dengue vaccination program to her province.
“Ginagampanan lang namin ang role namin as fiscalizer at mabigyan ng benefits ang constituents namin kung may government program na ganito,” Garcia said in a radio interview.
She recalled telling Ubial during a session in 2016 that the dengue incidence in Cebu was “very high” and that there were already people dying.
“So sinabi ko sa kaniya, dalawa kayong nagtatalong schools of thought. As of now, ang (Department of Health), ang undersecretaries mo, parehong inendorse ito. Kaya sabi ko, if you stop this, e nabayaran na yan?” Garcia said.
She said if lawmakers like her asked, “that is our role.”
“Sa kaniya po, as secretary of health (then), if she really believes na kailangang ihinto, panindigan niya. Health e, buhay na ng mga bata ang nakasalalay dito,” she said.
Ubial said on Thursday Garcia was among the lawmakers from the House of Representatives who “pressured” her into implementing the controversial dengue vaccine program.
She alleged that in one session in 2016, Garcia had kept “badgering” her for almost an hour.
She said the other lawmaker was Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin, former Health Secretary Janette Garin’s husband.
The female Garin, however, noted that her husband was not a member of the Commission on Appointments that ended up rejecting Ubial’s appointment as health secretary at that time.