Abante gives Duterte passing grade but ‘heads must roll' over COVID-19

House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. on Monday said he would still give President Rodrigo Duterte a "passing grade" for his performance as chief executive, although "some heads must roll" among agencies involved in the COVID-19 response.

"If I will rate the President right now, I will still rate the President with a passing grade. Although siyempre litong-lito ang gobyerno sa pandemic na ito. Mukhang talagang nabigla tayong lahat, we were caught flat-footed, hindi tayo handa sa mga bagay na ito," Abante told reporters in a virtual press conference a few hours before Duterte delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address.

"Still I believe the President is doing his best. Kaya nga lang yung mga nasa ilalim niya, mukhang napakabagal kumilos sa pandemic na ito... Palagay ko there are some heads that must roll," he added.

Abante refused to name individuals whom he thinks should be held accountable, although he mentioned that they are part of the Department of Health and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

For one, he slammed the LTFRB for supposedly not listening to the advice of lawmakers on what they should do.

"Itong LTFRB, sila yung nagi-implement and they're the ones making the policy. I think the LTFRB should know what they're doing now sapagkat hindi kami pinapakinggan e," he said.

While the executive was not a "failure," it was still the legislature's job to point out what they think the administration was doing wrong so that it could be corrected.

"Kami naman sa Kongreso, ang tungkulin naman namin ay i-correct ang mga bagay-bagay na mali at paalalahanan ang executive na ito, kinakailangang gawin niyo ito. That is the job of the minority," he said.

Just a few days before the SONA, allegations of "widespread corruption" at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) surfaced.

Abante said the House minority would push for an investigation into the matter, as they had earlier filed a resolution to probe the affairs of the state health insurer.

"Kaya nga nilagay ng pangulo si Gen. [Ricardo] Morales diyan upang imbestigahan ang kurapsyon, but for several months wala yata siyang nakitang ano mang bagay na pwede niyang sabihin sa amin kaya talagang kapag inimbestigahan na ng committee ang resolution na inihain namin ay talagang yan ang tatalakayin naming maigi," he said.

"So aming ipu-push yan sapagkat meron na kaming resolution diyan to investigate PhilHealth. Hindi lang PhilHealth, pati DOH for that matter," he added.

Morales, on the other hand, refuted the allegations of irregularity at the PhilHealth.

"[Aabot sa] 50,000 transactions ang hina-handle ng PhilHealth araw-araw, palagay ko naman kung hindi corruption ‘yung mga inefficiencies diyan, mali ‘yung pasok [ng entries], kulang. Pero yung sinasabi na korapsyon na may sindikato, may mafia, wala hong ebidensiya," he said. — DVM, GMA News