MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is not keeping Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to play the role of a “scapegoat” for the government’s lapses in addressing the COVID-19 crisis, Malacañang said Wednesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement in response to opposition Senator Leila de Lima who earlier claimed that Duque — repeatedly criticized for his handling of the pandemic — has not been fired from his post because the President needs a “whipping boy” in this crisis.
“I read the same papers and I watch the same news as Senator Leila De Lima, I can tell you, the President has not been treating Secretary Duque as a whipping boy,” Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines.
“The question I’m asked more often is why not ‘no. But it has never been the case that I think the President has ever used him as whipping boy, he’s always been supportive of Secretary Duque. He says mistakes have been made, (but) for as long as these mistakes were done in good faith, then it’s no reason for him to lose confidence,” he added.
Just months into the pandemic in April, 14 senators signed a resolution urging Duque to spare the President from further trouble by just stepping down from his post.
In May, Duque was condemned for announcing that the Philippines was already experiencing its second wave of COVID-19 infections.
More recently, he drew fierce criticisms for claiming that the country has successfully flattened the pandemic curve even as the confirmed COVID-19 cases continue to increase on a daily basis.
Despite these, Duterte continues to trust Duque, he even consoled his Health chief during a meeting in Malacañang by asking him not to be too touchy of the criticisms.