MANILA, Philippines — Issues on how Health Secretary Francisco Duque III handled the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak piled up and snowballed into calls for his resignation, said Senator Panfilo Lacson.
“Ang mga issues na gumulong, huminog sa aming discussion sa aming majority bloc kaya nabuo ang decision na mag-file tayo ng resolution at bahala na si Sec. Duque,” Lacson said in an interview on dzBB on Friday.
Among the issues that piqued senators, Lacson said, was the slow-paced contact tracing involving the first two COVID-19 cases in the country.
“Meron kaming Viber chat group among the majority bloc…mostly mga policy issue ang dini-discuss namin doon at isa nga ito sa lumabas, naipon ng naipon lahat na issues simula pa nang nag-hearing kami sa unang contact tracing,” the senator said.
“Lumabas doon, 17 percent lang ang na-contact sa mga pasahero ng Cebu Pac na sakay ang taga-Wuhan na siyang nagsimula ng lahat sa atin. Kasi noon wala pa naman tayo,” he added.
During the Senate inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 response in February, Duque admitted that only 17 percent of the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who tested positive for the new coronavirus have been contacted.
“Unang contact tracing at sabi ni (Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa), sabi niya ‘Sir Ping ako kaliwa kanan pipirma ako riyan kasi pinakamalaking issue sa akin hindi sana tayo aabot sa ganito kung naawat agad sa contact tracing at na-isolate agad ang mga pasahero’,” Lacson went on.
The health chief said during the hearing that airlines supposedly refused to share passenger records. But the airlines denied these claims.
“Ang unang reaction niya (Duque), he threw all his subordinates under the bus. Ang tendency niya pinagsisisi ang tao niya, tinuro. Hindi lang tao niya…E harap-harapan doon so natandaan ko medyo napikon ako, sabi ko turo kayo ng turo, e may tinatawag tayong principle of unity of command,” Lacson recalled.
“Health issue ito. Dapat you should have taken upon yourself na ikaw umakto rito, hindi ang turo ka ng turo kung kani-kanino,” he added.
Lacson also said the Department of Health’s (DOH) alleged refusal to use government funds to procure rapid test kits also piqued some senators.
“(May) pinalabas na circular ang DOH na di pwede gumamit ng government funds sa pag-procure ng rapid antibody test kit. E parang COA (Commission on Audit). COA lang pwede magsabi noon na di pwede gumamit ng pondo ang gobyerno sa paggastos. Pero ang DOH naglabas ng ganoong kautusan,” he said.
“Doon napikon si Sen. (Francis) Tolentino. Pikon na pikon siya. Pati ang kanyang panukala kasi may medical act na existing, niresearch pa niya yan, pag graduate ka sa medical school maski hindi pa kumukuha ng board exam, pwede nang gamitin. E malaking tulong yan, multiplier effect yan, ayaw naman ng DOH. Pero eventually bumigay at pinayagan din, pero may delay. Ang ano namin dito, sobrang delay ang action taken na nako-compound ang problema,” he added.
On Thursday, a resolution was signed by 14 senators seeking Duque’s “immediate resignation” for his “failure of leadership, negligence, (and) lack of foresight” in addressing the pandemic.
“Knowing fully well the danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of the year, Secretary Duque failed to put in place the necessary precautionary measures to lessen, if not at all prevent, the impact of this health crisis,” the resolution read.
Despite calls for Duque to quit, President Rodrigo Duterte said his appointed health secretary will “stay put.”
Duque, meanwhile, admitted being “really hurt” by calls of some senators for him to resign.
“We need to unite. We have such a formidable enemy. This is a war. This is against an invisible enemy,” he said during the technical working group (TWG) meeting of the health subcommittee of House’s Defeat COVID-19 Committee (DCC).
Duque said he wishes the senators would have been “more magnanimous” and “more appreciative” of the efforts of the Department of Health from the time the threat of COVID-19 began in the country.