Lacson won’t sign Senate panel report on Dengvaxia

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson will not sign the draft report of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy that he said was tainted by the agenda of the panel’s chairman Sen. Richard Gordon.

Lacson bristled at the comments of Gordon on Sunday after he vouched for the integrity of former president Benigno Aquino III.

Gordon earlier recommended that Aquino be charged for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for approving the Dengvaxia program.

Gordon said the reason why Lacson defended Aquino is because they were friends as the former surfaced from hiding during the latter’s presidency and was appointed as chief of the rehabilitation program for areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

Lacson said Gordon’s “unreasonable comments” only firmed up his decision not to sign his draft committee report. 

He said he did not attend a single hearing of the committee but closely monitored the inquiry from his office as just like the observation of most of his colleagues, Gordon was monopolizing the proceedings.

“Having said that, even that early I had my reservations based on his prejudgment which was too obvious to ignore,” Lacson said.

“He (Gordon) was directing the investigation to suit the outcome that he had desired from the very start,” he said.

Aside from Gordon, only five senators – Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III; Sens. Joseph Victor Ejercito, Gregorio Honasan, Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Nancy Binay – have signed the report.

Nine signatures are needed for the report to be considered a report of the committee, which has 17 members.

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima said the report was not a legislative investigation report but “Gordon’s personal political manifesto demonizing Aquino.”

“The whole gist and design of the Gordon report is to inculpate PNoy (Aquino), without any mention whatsoever of the testimonies and documents presented by PNoy and his officials during the hearings. It is as if PNoy and his officials were never there at the Blue Ribbon committee hearings,” De Lima said.

Former health secretary Janette Garin yesterday asked her critics to wait for the report of the expert panel of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the Dengvaxia vaccine, which is set to be released this month.

In a breakfast forum, Garin said the Strategic Advisory Group of Expert (SAGE) report will best answer questions on the safety and efficacy of the controversial vaccine.  

“Right and left, many people are claiming to be experts on infectious diseases and vaccinology. We can respect that but who are the real experts recognized by the WHO? Why don’t we wait for the SAGE report before reacting,” she noted.  – With Sheila Crisostomo