Duque a hero? Drilon says proof of pudding is in the eating

After President Rodrigo Duterte hailed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III as a “hero” of the COVID-19 response, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

“As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Where are we today with the leadership of Sec. Duque in our health sector?” Drilon said in an ANC interview.

He mentioned three instances where Duque has failed in leading the country in its COVID-19 response.

Drilon noted the late implementation of the travel ban against China in January 2020 as Duque said China may not see this as a friendly act.

“Now we have 70,000 deaths, over a million case and that was because of that first error,” Drilon said.

Drilon also recalled the instance when Duque “dropped the ball” on the procurement of 10 million doses of Pfizer vaccines against COVID-19.

Lastly, the minority chief said the government failed to make advanced payments for the procurement of COVID-19 jabs.

As a result, Drilon said the Philippines is at the “end of the queue” in terms of the availability of COVID-19 vaccine.

“We have no tracking system. Our testing system is very deficient and very expensive. We have failed in the 3 "Ts" in this campaign. Testing, tracking, treatment,” he said.

“So, I will lay it on the table. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and we have failed insofar as the management of the pandemic is concerned,” he ended.

On Wednesday, senators argued that the frontliners, and not Duque alone, are the heroes in the country’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

In April last year, several senators filed a resolution asking for the immediate resignation of Duque over his “his failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency in the performance of his mandate” as the country grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Malacañang said Duterte has decided that Duque should stay on at the helm of the DOH.

Despite the call of the senators, which included some of his allies, Duterte had defended Duque.—AOL, GMA News