Vergeire: We leave DOH chief appointment to Marcos' discretion

Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated on Tuesday that she will leave it up to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., whether or not he will appoint her as Health Secretary.

Vergeire made the remark after Marcos officially named two new members of his Cabinet recently—Attorney Cheloy Garafil as Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), and Carlito Galvez Jr. as Secretary of the Department of National Defense.

“We congratulate those who have been appointed already. Well-deserved naman sila, Secretary Galvez at si Secretary Garafil,” Vergeire said in a press conference.

(Secretary Galvez and Secretary Garafil deserve it.)

“‘Yung sa atin naman, we leave it again to the discretion and the prerogative of the President. Kung tayo ay mapipili, syempre tutuloy-tuloy natin ang ating ginagawa sa ngayon para mas magawa natin ‘yung mga reporma,” she added.

(As for us, we leave it again to the discretion and the prerogative of the President. If we will be appointed, of course, we will continue what we are doing so that we can enact the needed reforms.)

Marcos previously said that he would only appoint a Health Secretary if the country's situation returned to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

On July 14, 2022, Malacañang announced that Vergeire was appointed Health Department officer-in-charge (OIC).

The Health Secretary post has remained vacant since Marcos took his oath as President some seven months earlier.

Vergeire also clarified that the Palace’s memorandum circular on the tenure deadline of OICs in Executive agencies did not apply to her. Thus, “there is no timeline” to her appointment as OIC. — DVM, GMA Integrated News