MANILA, Philippines — For Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, whatever plan President Rodrigo Duterte has to beat COVID-19 “rings hollow and empty” if Secretary Francisco Duque III stays as Department of Health (DOH) chief.
The opposition senator said that before he begins to take seriously Duterte’s strategy against the coronavirus disease, the President should first fire Duque.
“His proposals to address COVID rings hollow and empty when he condones incompetence and corruption, and when his team continues to miss their targets for mass testing, contact tracing, and treatment, and in doing so has miserably failed to stop the spread of the disease,” Pangilinan said.
Previously, Pangilinan voted against the passage of the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 due to the “mediocre leadership” of Duque.
In a taped and edited discussion with several Cabinet members and guests on Thursday night but televised for the public on Friday morning, Duterte vowed that the Philippines’ situation will be “back to normal” by December and urged the public to wait a bit more for a vaccine against COVID-19.
He added that the country might be the first to get a vaccine being developed by China.
Also during the discussion, Department of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the country can finance the vaccination of 20 million Filipinos once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available later this year.