Senate Blue Committee Committee Chairman Richard Gordon sees unusual haste in the approval of the nationwide immunization program that used Dengvaxia vaccine in 2016.
Gordon made a comprehensive audio-visual presentation showing the timeline for the dengue vaccine procurement and the implementation of the project.
He stressed that Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Dengvaxia only 21 days after former President Benigno Aquino Jr. met with Sanofi Pasteur officials.
The senator also enumerated the alleged involvement of Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur in health controversies in other countries.
Gordon reported that in one instance, Sanofi officials had supposedly been entangled in $100 million-worth of kickbacks and pay-off scandal in the United States.
"The record of Sanofi all over the world is not sterling," he observed.
Gordon made the remarks during the Senate investigation into the Department of Health's purchase of P 3.5-billion worth of Dengvaxia vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur.
The issue created public uproar after Sanofi Pasteur announced the vaccine may cause severe disease to persons who received shots of Dengvaxia even if they have not contracted dengue.
