President Benigno Aquino III believed it was his duty, even as a private citizen, to “allay certain fears” due to a decision he had made when he was the nation’s leader. Aquino, who stepped down on June 30 last year, was the second former President who had attended a congressional hearing on an administration flagship program. The immunization program was important for the Aquino administration as dengue infection and deaths rose nationwide. At a press conference after the hearing, Aquino said he had wanted to tell Topacio he was “destroying our reputation.”ADVERTISEMENT“We can sue you for slander because of the accusations you’ve made,” Aquino said. He said that instead of asking senators to do the work of backing an allegation “it is the duty of the accuser to find the evidence.”The government purchased the antidengue vaccine at the tail end of the Aquino administration.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 15, 2017 23:03 UTC