De Lima defends Aquino, says Dengvaxia "propaganda" by Duterte men

Senator Leila de Lima and former President Benigno Aquino III, photo from Philippine Star

Detained senator Leila de Lima through a statement, said that the issue on Dengvaxia, a Dengue vaccine administered to thousands of children, and which turned out to be deadly, is nothing but malicious speculation against former President Benigno Aquino III.

De Lima denounced the "three stooges", who blamed Aquino for the controversy.



Under Aquino, the government spent 3.5 billion on the drug which was injected to 733,000 school children.

De Lima's "three stooges" were Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption’ (VACC) members Dante Jimenez and Ferdinand Topacio.

She said, “Citing nothing but anecdotal data and malicious speculation on the effects of the vaccine, the alarmist tact of these three stooges managed nothing but sow panic among the public."

“What is funny about this presscon is that not one public health expert or DOH official was present to corroborate the scientific reliability of the anecdotal data of these clowns,” she added.



She said that these men only want to ruin Aquino's image and even link the issue to corruption, as Aquino allegedly met with Sanofi Pasteur, the drug's manufacturer.

“What the three stooges intimated to the public is that if your child is sick today, it is because of the vaccine, and that is the fault of none other than former President Aquino who benefited therefrom by making your child sick,” she said.

De Lima deemed the statements of the justice secretary and the VACC members as “irresponsible, alarmist, speculative and malicious”.

Two children injected with Dengvaxia have passed away, yet Sanofi has denied that the deaths were caused by the drug, but only admitted that the vaccine could lead to more severe symptoms for those who have not been diagnosed with Dengue before.



The senator  called on the Department of Health to take the lead in informing the public of the real nature of the health risks to children that the distribution of the vaccine has supposedly caused.

“It must not allow the issue to be used for political propaganda by Duterte hatchetmen at the expense of properly informing the public with clear scientific data,” she said.

DOH on Friday suspended the drug from the market.

The anti-dengue vaccination drive was launched under former Health Secretary Janette Garin during Aquino’s presidency.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

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