The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is set to conduct an autopsy on the body and internal organs of a person who received shots of the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, PAO Chief Persida Rueda Acosta said on Thursday, Dec. 4.
“Meron pa pong autopsy sa next week (We will conduct another autopsy next week),” revealed Acosta during a meeting last Thursday, Dec. 14, with members of the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC).
Acosta did not identify the dead person but she lamented that that person may not be the last Dengvaxia recipient who will perish.
Citing the pronouncements made by Dr. Mary Ann Lansang during the Senate Dengvaxia hearings, Acosta said “hanggang 30 years ang epekto niyan (It’s effects can last for 30 years).”
Acosta assured that PAO will continue to provide legal assistance to Dengvaxia victims and their families.
“Hanggang ngayon nagbabakbakan pa sa korte (The fight still continues in the courts),” she said.
She also said that PAO has already autopsied a total of 166 Dengvaxia victims and has filed criminal cases before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of 156 including those now pending before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) which has been tasked by the Supreme Court (SC) to handle all Dengvaxia cases.
PAO has been ordered in 2017 by then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to “extend free legal assistance in civil, criminal and administrative cases to all possible victims of Dengvaxia related injuries, illnesses and deaths,” she said.