Former Department of Health chiefs and doctors for public health convenor have welcomed the recent decision of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court dismissing the dengvaxia cases against ex-DOH secretary Janette Garin and other doctors for lack of sufficient evidence.
“We are pleased and very thankful to note the decision of the QC-RTC. This was the state of how the justice system works – haphazard accusations without real fact-checking and believing non-experts,” the Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare convenor Dr. Minguita Padilla said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The prosecution and its supoosed star witnesses, Dr. Clarito Cairo, Dr. Tony Leachon, and Dr. Erwin Erfe, could not cite any concrete evidence that came with the hasty accusations. They misrepresented themselves as experts in the trial and their utestimonies were declared inadmissible,” Padilla stressed.
According to the decision of RTC Branch 229, penned by Presiding Judge Cleto R. Villacorta III, the prosecution’s witnesses were not real experts to offer an opinion on dengvaxia that resulted in the dismissal of the cases, adding that “expert witnesses have a special duty to the court to provide fair, objective, and non-partisan assistance.”
The Court said that an expert opinion, to be admissible as evidence, must come from a credible expert who has special knowledge, skill, or training; it must be derived using sound “scientific” principles and methodology; and must not be based on hearsay and in this case and there is no such evidence on record.
Meanwhile, former health secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral, convenor of DTPW, pointed out that the damage caused by false allegations included the erosion of trust in Philippine public health, which has likely led to preventable deaths and illnesses if the people have not rejected vaccinations.
“All these accusations were based on misinformation and had politicized the noble intent of public health,” the doctor added.
On the other hand, former health secretary Dr. Manuel Dayrit, also a convenor of DTPW, pointed out that Court’s decision sorted out facts from misinformation, expert testimony from layman’s opinion.
“It is lamentable how the dengvaxia controversy eroded public trust in vaccination leading to a drop in vaccination rates in children. There was much misinformation and blame which circulated at the height of the controversy and still remains in the public mind today,” Dayrit said.
He is also hopeful that Filipino parents can regain their trust in the benefits of vaccination to protect their children against preventable illnesses.
