Pangilinan on Duterte’s alleged plan to sack Duque: ‘Better late than never’

Replacing Health Secretary Francisco Duque III would be an overdue decision that Malacañang should have done months ago, Senator Francis Pangilinan said Monday.

"Kung totoo nga, ang masasabi ko better late than never dahil unang linggo ng February pa lang o halos apat na buwan na sa Senate Health Committee hearing nabanggit ko na ang failure of leadership," Pangilinan said in a message.

"Nakita na natin na natutulog sa pansitan ang DOH [Department of Health] sa pagpasok ng mga Chinese nationals sa bansa. Walang contact tracing, walang sapat na kagamitan para sa frontliners, walang maayos na paghahanda. Tapos pabor pa sa China ang mga desisyon," he added.

Following a report that Duterte is scouting for someone who could take over the DOH leadership, Pangilinan said an ideal replacement would be someone who will implement health initiatives for the country without ulterior motives.

"Ang papalit kung sakali man, hindi dapat pinupulitika at nababahiran ng pangungurakot o overpricing ang mga programang pangkalusugan at kaligtasan ng taumbayan sa gitna ng pandemya," he said.

His fellow minority Senator Risa Hontiveros also said Duterte must make up his mind as soon as possible.

"The government should decide soon because it is difficult to change horses midstream. Bawat araw, nawawala ang tiwala ng publiko sa anti-COVID-19 response ng gobyerno dahil kulang at magulo ang leadership ni Sec. Duque," she said in a separate statement.

She, nonetheless, recognized that the problem is bigger than the issues with the current health secretary.

"There is an institutional and systems failure that goes beyond one person. Our health systems need a drastic and urgent overhaul and improvement for us to more effectively respond to COVID-19. Beyond sacrificial lambs, collective political leadership is required to shepherd the nation out of this crisis," she said.

Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson said it would be better for Duque to resign instead of waiting for Duterte's verdict.

"The secretary may consider taking the initiative to quit his post as an act of sacrifice, especially for the sake of those outside of the 868 dead Filipinos and 14,035 others so far confirmed by DOH as officially infected," he said.

"Because of the inability by DOH to cover as many Filipinos who also deserve to be tested but otherwise left to their own devices due to the absence of contact tracing and other shortcomings, the rest of us become more vulnerable and exposed to the virus without even knowing it," he added.

Lacson further said that the taxpayers' money is apparently being "taken advantage of by greed and callousness under the present leadership of the DOH."

Senator Richard Gordon, on the other hand, said he'd rather trust the strategy of the DOH chief rather than compare the Philippines' COVID-19 response to that of other countries.

"If it's a question of copying, I would rather have faith in our doctors here. I'd rather have faith in our minister of health even if he is... he seems... he's soft-spoken eh. 'Yan ang hirap kay Secretary Duque eh, mabait. Eh matatapatan pa ng mataray, tapos ka na," Gordon said in a virtual forum.

"Pero may karapatan tayong magalit kung di nagagawa pero right now? Nagkakamatay na tayo, nagkakagulo na tayo. Sorry I'm not the type," he added.

Duque came under fire after his "flip-flopping" pronouncements about the second wave of COVID-19, the allegedly overpriced COVID-19 testing equipment bought by the government, and the questionable cost of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's testing package were raised in last week's Senate hearings.

Without confirming or denying Duterte's alleged plan to replace Duque, Malacañang on Monday maintained that all Cabinet officials serve at the pleasure of the President. — BM, GMA News