Aquino administration officials responsible for the dengue vaccine fiasco may be liable for graft, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, chair of the good government committee of the House of Representatives, said on Sunday. “Here, it is very clear that the purchase of the dengue vaccine was not in the [General Appropriations Act],” he said. More than 830,000 children have received at least one dose of Dengvaxia since the DOH launched an immunization program in April 2016. The dengue vaccine was not originally in the DOH procurement plan for 2016, and was funded only in December 2015. In a statement he read at the start of the hearing, Aquino said no one in his administration objected to the immunization program using Dengvaxia.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 17, 2017 23:15 UTC