MANILA, Philippines鈥揟he Public Attorney鈥檚 Office (PAO) had asked President Rodrigo Duterte to reject the special provision of the general appropriations bill for the 2020 budget removing the funding from its existing forensic laboratory.
PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said the President should 鈥渧eto聽the inserted special provision in the General Appropriations Bill, limiting the PAO in the use of its MOOE聽(Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses)聽and prohibiting the use of funds for the meetings and other maintenance and operating expenses of the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division, which is presently composed of eight plantilla personnel.鈥�
Under the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP) of the President and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), P19.5-million supposed to be allotted for the purchase of additional equipment for the PAO鈥檚 forensic laboratory has been deleted.
The General Appropriations Act also inserted a special provision limiting the use of the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) to the effect that no funds may be used for the maintenance and operation of the PAO Forensic Laboratory.
鈥淭hese modifications in the President鈥檚 budget or the NEP (National Expenditure Program) have only one objective 鈥� to paralyze the PAO Forensic Laboratory and jeopardize its operations, depriving them the opportunity to assist the clients of the PAO,鈥� PAO officials said in the letter which was signed by the PAO Chief, and seven other officials of the PAO, namely, Deputy Chiefs Silvestre Mosing and Ana Lisa Soriano; regional chiefs Marlon Buan of National Capital Region (NCR) and Revelyn Ramos-Dacpano of Region 4b or MIMAROPA; administrative service chief Demiteer Huerta; and legal service chief Ronald Jerome Nieves.
鈥淲e most humbly submit that the deletion of the budget for the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division鈥檚 equipment, and the prohibition for the use of funds for its operations run contrary to the constitution, the law, and the proprietary rights of its eight (8) complement plantilla personnel,鈥� the PAO said.
鈥淣otably, the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division鈥檚 most controversial case as of the moment is the Dengvaxia controversy, which involves the purchase and indiscriminate mass vaccination without informed consent and proper screening of the experimental vaccine Dengvaxia by the Department of Health (DOH), spearheaded during the term of the former administration, with now Congresswoman Janette L. Garin as then DOH Secretary,鈥� it stated.
鈥淲e cannot help but wonder whether the modifications introduced by the minority in Congress is an act averse to the PAO鈥檚 and this administration鈥檚 efforts in giving justice to the Dengvaxia victims and impose liability upon the government officials responsible for the untimely deaths, illnesses, and exposure to the systemic risks of Dengvaxia, of their children 鈥� at the expense of the PAO鈥檚 existing and future clients composed of victims of torture, rape, VAWC (violence against women and children), physical injuries, and mysterious deaths and cases, as well as the accused in criminal cases,鈥� the PAO added.
鈥淵ou, Mr. President, are the only hope not only of PAO but of our millions of poor, downtrodden and oppressed clients who, more often than not, feel that justice remains to be elusive because of their dire financial state, which prevents them from fully presenting their cases in court,鈥� read the letter.
In November 2016, the House of Representatives, spearheaded by the Committee on Health, started a probe on Dengvaxia and found that the experimental anti-dengue vaccine had adverse effects on some of the children who were vaccinated.
In 2018, PAO鈥檚 Forensic Laboratory conducted an autopsy on five children who reportedly died months after they were injected with Dengvaxia. While declaring that its findings were inconclusive, PAO said it found 鈥渟trong links鈥� between Dengvaxia and the deaths of the five children.
As of 2019, PAO said it has autopsied 149 persons who received shots of Dengvaxia.
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