The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) will pursue the cases involving reported deaths and injuries allegedly caused by the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia even under the coming new administration.
PAO Chief Persida Rueda V. Acosta on Thursday, Dec. 16, said: “Hindi po titigil ang PAO. Tuloy-tuloy po ito (The PAO will not stop. We will continue).”
In a meeting with journalists, Acosta said she has been PAO chief for almost 21 years and her office “has not retreated from its pursuit of justice for victims and the oppressed.”
“Magpalit man ang political landscape nandiyan pa rin po ang PAO kakampi ng mga biktima at mga api (Even with the change in the country’s political landscape, PAO will be there for the victims and the oppressed,” she assured.
She said that PAO has autopsied a total of 165 dead persons, mostly minors, “who got inoculated with the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.”
Three more autopsies would be conducted in January in Cebu, she added.
A total of 157 criminal cases involving 155 deaths and two survivors has been filed before the court, she noted.
Sixty-eight civil cases have also been filed, she also said.