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Aquino ready to face Dengvaxia raps - spokesperson

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/04/12/20180226-congress-aquino-dengvaxia-27-jc.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>Benigno Aquino III at the House of Representatives hearing on the Dengvaxia controversy, Monday, February 26, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - Former President Benigno Aquino III is ready to face complaints about his involvement in the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program, his spokesperson said after a draft Senate committee report said he should be held criminally liable.&quot;Former President Aquino has always demonstrated his readiness to answer questions about his decisions as president. His consistent participation in legislative investigations and other venues shows this,&quot; Abigail Valte, former Aquino&#x27;s deputy presidential spokesperson, said in a statement.&quot;He will continue to face whatever additional complaints are filed in connection with this matter,&quot; she added.Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said their investigation found that the P3.5 billion Dengvaxia program was implemented with &quot;undue haste&quot; by Aquino, former health secretary Janette Garin, and former budget secretary Florencio Abad.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/11/18/aquino-conspirators-should-face-raps-over-dengvaxia-gordon">Aquino, &#x27;conspirators&#x27; should face raps over Dengvaxia: Gordon</a></li></ul>He said Aquino snubbed local and foreign experts who warned that the vaccine may have an ill effect. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/11/17/officials-defied-experts-advice-in-pursuing-dengue-immunization-program">Officials defied experts&#x27; advice in pursuing dengue immunization program</a></li></ul>The report, when signed by other senators, would recommend that Aquino be charged with violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.In a statement, Garin criticized the committee report, calling it a &quot;personal opinion&quot; only of Gordon. She said the vaccination program was &quot;timely and responsive government action is not a violation of the law.&quot;&quot;My conscience is clear and I am ready to answer any charge that will be filed in the proper forum,&quot; she said.About 830,000 schoolchildren from regions with high incidence rates of dengue were vaccinated under the program before Sanofi Pasteur admitted late last year that Dengvaxia may cause severe dengue if injected to patients who have not previously contracted the mosquito-borne disease. The government has since suspended its dengue vaccination campaign, but several parents claimed that their children died due to complications from the vaccine.

Former President Benigno Aquino III is ready to face complaints about his involvement in the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program, his spokesperson said after a draft Senate committee report said he should be held criminally liable.

Former President Benigno Aquino III is ready to face complaints about his involvement in the P3.5 billion dengue vaccination program, his spokesperson said after a draft Senate committee report said he should be held criminally liable.