FORMER Health secretary Paulyn Ubial claimed on Thursday, December 14, that the Commission on Appointments (CA) did not confirm her because of her refusal to purchase more Dengvaxia vaccines and expand the dengue vaccination program.
During the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation into the dengue vaccination program Thursday, Ubial pointed to Iloilo Representative Oscar Garin Jr. and Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia as among those who allegedly "pressured" her into continuing and expanding the vaccination program.
Another former Health secretary, Janette Garin, was quick to belie Ubial's claims.
Garin, who is in the hot seat because of the controversial program that was initiated when she was Health secretary, said her husband Oscar is not a member of the CA and could not have influenced the commission's decision to reject Ubial.
"For the record, Oscar Garin Jr is my husband. He is not a member of the CA," Garin said.
She pointed out that her husband was merely pushing for the administration of the subsequent doses of the vaccine, given that the first dose has been administered to about 800,000 public school children.
"Sino po ba kami para impluwensyahan ang CA (Who are we to influence the CA)? It's an independent body," Garin said.
She said it is but natural for lawmakers to fight for benefits for their constituents, as what her husband and Garcia of Cebu were doing.
"Hindi po yan pressure, hindi po pinilit, at wala kaming kinalaman sa Commission on Appointments (That is not pressure. That was not forced and we don't have anything to do with the Commission on Appointments)," Garin added.
During the hearing for the Department of Health's 2018 budget, Ubial said Garcia "repeatedly badgered" her to expand the program to Central Visayas, or Region 7. Central Visayas covers Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
"There was a particular time in the budget hearing that it took us one hour of exchanges - of questions, badgering me, trying to make me commit to expand the vaccination program to Region 7. (They said) that they will defer the DOH budget if I will not do that," Ubial said.
Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, remarked that Garcia sounded like she was just pushing for the vaccination program to benefit her constituents.
"That doesn't sound like pressure, but a congresswoman fighting for her constituency," Gordon said.
The DOH suspended the dengue vaccination program on December 1, in light of new findings by pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur that its Dengvaxia vaccine may cause severe dengue among those who have not had dengue fever prior to immunization.
The World Health Organization, in an advisory on November 30, said the vaccine may be administered only to seropositive individuals, or those who have contracted the dengue virus prior to immunization.
Dengvaxia is the world's first licensed vaccine for dengue, a deadly mosquito-borne disease. (VoxPop Philippines)