Former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary and incumbent Iloilo Congresswoman Janette Garin and others were acquitted by the Sandiganbayan over charges related to the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

Garin’s graft and technical malversation charges stemmed from the controversial mass inoculation of Dengvaxia among Filipino children in 2015, reported RH 5 Val Gonzales.

The trial against Garin and her co-accused lasted three years before the anti-graft court declared her acquitted on Tuesday afternoon.

Among the acquitted personalities are former Health Undersecretary Dr. Gerardo Bayugo, Undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Maria Joyce Ducusin, and former Children’s Medical Center Executive Director Dr. Julius A. Lecciones

In 2023, the Ombudsman alleged the said officials colluded to use the P3.5-billion fund for the Expanded Program for Immunization through the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccines.