MANILA — The Sandiganbayan has denied the Motion to Quash filed by former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary and current Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin to dismiss the graft and illegal use of public funds charges against her related to the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy.

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The anti-graft court’s Second Division has also junked the same bids of Garin’s co-accused former DOH Undersecretaries Gerardo Bayugo and Kenneth Hartigan-Go, former DOH Officer-in-Charge Director Maria Joyce Ducusin, and former Philippine Children’s Medical Center Executive Director Julius Lecciones.

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Garin and her co-accused are charged with allegedly “conspiring and confederating with one another, and acting in evident bad faith” when they “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously caused the realignment of government fund” amounting to more than P3.5 billion for the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines in 2015 which were used in the School-Based Immunization Program.

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This supposedly led to the “damage and prejudice of the government.”

The accused have posted bail and insisted on their innocence.

• Garin sinampahan ng kaso kaugnay ng Dengvaxia

In her Motion to Quash, Garin argued that the facts presented against her “do not constitute an offense.” She also said her “Constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases was violated because of inordinate delay in the proceedings.”

Her co-accused stated the same.

But in the nine-page Resolution dated January 10, 2024, the Court said allegations against the accused “are sufficient” and contain elements of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and elements of violation of Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code.

As to the contention that accused were deprived of their right for speedy disposition of cases, the Sandiganbayan said “the length of time spent by both the DOJ (Department of Justice) and the Office of the Ombudsman before issuing the resolutions that culminated in the filing of the cases in court is reasonable and acceptable” given that there were originally 42 respondents, and that the issues were complex.

The complaint was filed in February 2015 and the Ombudsman came up with a Resolution in August 2023 with charges filed in October 2023.

The Second Division further said that “the length of time spent in the investigation indicates that a careful examination and review of the evidence and documents were thoroughly undertaken before the cases were filed in court.”