Bato dela Rosa: Duque's lack of sincerity on contact tracing worsened COVID-19 crisis in Philippines

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in the Philippines could not have been worse had proactive contact tracing measures were taken by the Department of Health (DOH), Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa.

"Personally, my strongest protest is on his [Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's] lack of sincerity in the conduct of contact tracing on the co-passengers of the Wuhan couple who were first confirmed COVID-19 case[s] in the country. He kept on passing the buck," Dela Rosa said in a message to reporters on Thursday.

"Had that contact tracing been successfully done, maybe our present situation could not have been this worse," he added.

During a Senate hearing in February, Duque blamed the airlines which carried the Philippines' first two confirmed cases of novel coronavirus for the slow contact tracing of the individuals who were exposed on those flights.

"Airlines are not sharing the contact details of the passengers. They are invoking confidentiality," Duque said.

Local carriers Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL) denied the allegation and said that they provided the full flight manifest including the contact details of the passengers.

The first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines were detected on January 30 and February 1, respectively. The patients were a Chinese couple from China's Wuhan City—the epicenter of the outbreak. One of them recovered while the other died.

As of April 16, the number of confirmed cases in the Philippines climbed to 5,660, with 362 deaths and 435 recoveries. 

Several senators, including pro-administration Dela Rosa, filed a resolution on Thursday seeking the resignation of Duque for his alleged failure of leadership in handling the COVID-19 situation.

Duque said he would remain to lead DOH despite the senators' sentiments. The Palace said President Rodrigo Duterte wants the Health Secretary to "stay put."

Meanwhile, Senator Sonny Angara—also a co-author of the resolution— said that improvements in the health sector are imperative regardless if Duque stays or not.

"With or without Secretary Duque, there has to be a change in government health policy. Senators, as people's representatives have been observing and are severely disappointed with the response of DOH to the big crisis," Angara said.—AOL, GMA News