Women’s groups Gabriela, Gabriela Women’s Partylist (GWP) and child welfare group ARCSEA took the issue of the controversial P3.5-billion Dengvaxia immunization program to the Supreme Court (SC) and the Office of the Ombudsman today.
With over 70 mothers and their kids vaccinated with Dengvaxia as petitioners and complainants, the groups sought accountability from past and present administrations and immediate relief for around 800,000 victims of the dengue vaccine fiasco.
At the SC, petitioners and officials of GWP, Gabriela and ARCSEA seek a writ of continuing mandamus to address the dangers of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
The 42-page petition that they filed urged the high court to compel concerned government agencies to provide free medical services and treatment for those who may suffer from severe dengue or any of the determined side effects of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
Petitioners argued that “this issue is of transcendental importance.”
In a statement given to media, Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus said, “The horrors and risks being posed right now by the vaccine, which has been haphazardly administered to around 800,000 children, should be enough for the justices to act with urgency on our petition.”
They also demanded for the SC to mandate the creation of a registry of all those who have been inoculated by the vaccine in order to facilitate the delivery of free healthcare services.
“The current administration is duty-bound to ensure the right to health and right to life of all those affected by the Dengvaxia vaccine. This is the very least that it can do to allay the fears of children and their mothers,” GWP Rep. Arlene Brosas said.
Graft raps filed vs Aquino, et. al.
After the filing of the mandamus petition before the SC, the groups then proceeded to the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City with GWP’s legal counsel.
The groups aimed to hold former government officials former president Benigno Aquino III, former Health Secretary Dr. Janette Garin, former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, and former Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, as well as key Sanofi executives, liable “for executing a contract that was clearly to the disadvantage of Filipino children and the nation.”
“At the very least, the public respondents are guilty of gross inexcusable negligence when they inexcusably failed to duly review and assess the efficacy of the vaccine and to do what was obviously expected of them as public officials,” the complaint said.
Complainants believe that Aquino and other respondents “acted with manifest partiality” to conspire with Sanofi executives in launching the vaccine in the country ahead of any comprehensive review of it.
“Respondents’ acts are both cruel and appalling, as it affects us and the more than 750,000 other children who were inoculated with the controversial vaccine,” they added.
The groups considered the filing of the petition at the SC and case at the Ombudsman today as a major legal move of the parents and their children over the Dengvaxia scam.
Aside from these efforts, the women’s groups also spearhead various efforts in communities, including sanitation project and health care education.
Gabriela Metro Manila also launched ‘Dengvaxia Watch’ and hotlines last December 18 to gather complaints and reports from parents of children inoculated with the anomalous vaccine.
The ‘Dengvaxia Watch’ hotlines, which are open from Mondays to Sundays from 8:00 in the morning till 5:00 in the afternoon, could receive reports at the following:
LANDLINE NUMBER: (02) 3535077
GLOBE: 0977-6274755
SMART: 0908-3653366
FACEBOOK PAGE: Dengvaxia Watch
E-MAIL ADDRESS: dengvaxia.watch@gmail.com
 and child welfare group ARCSEA filed cases against previous and present admin over Dengvaxia.){kind=link}