Despite the budget slash, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) can continue to assist families whose members either died or suffered after receiving doses of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, PAO Chief Persida Acosta assured.
Acosta made the assurance after having filed on Wednesday, Nov. 25, a new batch of Dengvaxia complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Our special public attorneys and forensic doctors have mandated salaries and allowances from the allotment of Personnel Services per GAA (General Appropriations Act) 2020,” Acosta explained.
She said what was removed from the PAO’s 2020 budge was the P19.5 million from President Duterte’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) meant to purchase new equipment.
“The PAO legal services and its Forensic Laboratory personnel can exist and operate even without said equipments,” the PAO chief pointed out.
“They should perform their duties due to the salaries and mandatory compensation they are receiving from the government,” she added.
Acosta also reminded that the PAO’s forensic examinations, legal services and case build up are all free and are “part and parcel of our office mandate in all cases being handled.”
Pursuant to Department Order No. 792 issued on December 2017 by then Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II, the PAO has been accepting the requests of the families of Dengvaxia victims to assist them in the prosecution of those who should be held responsible for the deaths.