ILOILO 1st District Rep. Janette Garin on Monday blames the past administration and former Health secretary Francisco Duque for the reemergence of pertussis or whooping cough, along with other ailments that are easily preventable through vaccinations.
In a press briefing, Garin said people should understand that vaccine hesitancy, or parents’ second thoughts about allowing immunizations for their children, is the reason behind rising pertussis cases.
However, the lawmaker explained that the vaccine hesitancy did not happen overnight, claiming that past Department of Health (DOH) officials — particularly former secretaries Francisco Duque III and Paulyn Ubial — failed to address the circulation of misinformation on vaccines.
“There’s a lot of news about pertussis but maybe we should ask first why it has happened, why is it that in the whole world, only the Philippines registered a pertussis outbreak and why polio made a comeback, why are there people dying of measles. This is all because of vaccine hesitancy,” Garin said in Filipino.
“The huge vaccine hesitancy happened because the Department during the time, the leadership of the [DOH] during that time, the Duque and Ubial legacy led to a strong reduction of vaccination. Why talk about this? People should understand that these incidents during the current administration, is actually an offshoot of some mistakes committed during the previous administration,” she added.
