Sandiganbayan acquits Garin in Dengvaxia vaccine case

In this photo uploaded on Facebook on May 6, 2026 shows Rep. Janette Garin (Iloilo 1st District) at the main session hall of the House of Representatives.

Janette Garin via Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Special Second Division has acquitted former health secretary and now House Deputy Speaker Janette Garin and several other health officials of graft and technical malversation charges in connection with the controversial P3.55-billion procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines in 2015.

In a 43-page decision promulgated on October 13, the anti-graft court cleared Garin and her co-accused of all criminal charges, citing the prosecution's failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The cases stemmed from the health department's realignment of government funds and the subsequent issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order on Dec. 29, 2015, which allocated P3,556,155,900.00 for the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccines under the government's School-Based Immunization Program.

The prosecution argued that the accused acted in "evident bad faith" and in open defiance of Executive Order No. 49, series of 1993, which mandates that government drug procurements must be listed in the Philippine National Drug Formulary.

However, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence of a "fraudulent and dishonest purpose."

The court noted that the Department of Health had a valid mechanism for securing exemptions from the Philippine National Drug Formulary for national health programs.

Furthermore, the anti-graft court highlighted testimonies from the Commission on Audit confirming that no public funds were missing from the transaction.

“Whatever the adverse consequences of the Dengvaxia vaccines administered to schoolchildren may be, the Court cannot find sufficient link that such unfortunate incidents were motivated by evil or sinister design by the program implementors, mainly by the accused,” the anti-graft court said.

On the charge of technical malversation, the court ruled that the third element of the crime — that public funds were applied to a use different from what they were originally appropriated for by law — was not present.

The Sandiganbayan pointed out that while Garin requested the use of savings to fund the urgent dengue vaccination program, the legal authority to declare and transfer savings within the executive branch rests solely with the President of the Philippines under the Constitution and the 2015 GAA.

The court noted that then-President Benigno Aquino III, through then-Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, approved the fund augmentation from the 2015 Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF).

"In the final analysis, the one who caused the application of the savings from the 2015 MPBF to the purchase of dengue vaccines was none other than the President, and not accused Garin. The buck stops with the President, so to speak, and not with the member of his cabinet," the court ruled.

Additionally, the court clarified that Garin’s co-accused could not be held liable for technical malversation as they were not "accountable public officers" who had custody or possession of the funds under the law.