De Lima agrees with fellow senators, calls on Duque to resign but slams Duterte

Detained Senator Leila de Lima on Saturday said she agreed with her fellow senators and joined them in calling for the resignation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

"I agree with my Senate colleagues. 'Knowing fully well the danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the beginning of the year,' this administration’s Health Secretary has 'failed to put in place the necessary precautionary measures to lessen, if not at all prevent, the impact of this health crisis,'" she said in a dispatch sent from her detention cell in Camp Crame.

However, De Lima blamed President Rodrigo Duterte and said the primary responsibility for the failure of leadership and gross neglect of duties in the government's COVID-19 response rests on him.

“'The buck stops, here', goes the phrase popularized by former US President Harry Truman. The chain of accountability lies in the head of government," the senator said.

De Lima said were it not for Duterte's go signal, Duque would not have rejected the call to impose a travel ban to and from China in January 2020 as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Duterte ordered a ban on visitors from Hubei province in China as well as from other Chinese areas hit by COVID-19 on January 31.

It was only on Feb. 2 when Duterte decided to implement a temporary travel ban on all travelers coming from mainland China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.

De Lima also criticized the administration for the "dismal and catch-up" response and preparation for the threat of COVID-19.

She said the administration failed to establish a COVID-19 mass testing program early on which could have given a better assessment of the gains of the enhanced community quarantine.

Several senators on Thursday filed a resolution asking for Duque's resignation "for his failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency in the performance of his mandate" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malacañang however said Duque will remain in his post.

Duque said he would continue to serve the country and vowed to answer the allegations in due time.

"We will answer these allegations in due time but right now we will continue to be in the trenches with our health care workers and frontliners," Duque said in a statement.

"I will continue to serve the country to the best of my abilities. Magtulungan po tayo," he added. —KG, GMA News