DOH OIC lists possible tasks for Cascolan

Camilo Cascolan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The officer in charge (OIC) of the Department of Health (DOH), Maria Rosario Vergeire, has yet to decide what responsibilities she would give former Philippine National Police chief Camilo Cascolan, a newly appointed undersecretary, based on his experience as a longtime law enforcement officer. Vergeire on Thursday said she was considering assigning Cascolan to “operations or administration and finance where his credentials can be of use to the department.”

“Looking at his credentials, he has done a lot for operations during his time [at] the PNP,” she said in an interview with ANC.

The health official said she had already spoken with Cascolan and details about his appointment would be disclosed in the coming days.

The appointment of Cascolan as a DOH undersecretary by President Marcos last week was questioned by some in the health and other concerned sectors, pointing to the apparent job mismatch for a career police officer.

A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy in 1986, Cascolan, who will be 58 next month, started serving in the PNP in 1999. He rose through the ranks until he retired as national police chief in November 2020 after serving in that post for only two months.

Drug war role

He was one of the police officials who drafted the PNP’s controversial “Oplan Double Barrel,” which consisted of Oplan High-Value Target and the much-criticized “Oplan Tokhang,” the knock-and-plead operation to flush out drug peddlers and users that left thousands dead.

Mr. Marcos has defended his decision, saying that Cascolan need not be a doctor because “it’s not health issues that he has to look at.”

Mr. Marcos said Cascolan would instead manage the rightsizing, structural changes and administrative audit at the DOH as the undersecretary for “special concerns.”

The DOH website shows that Undersecretary Maria Francia Laxamana is currently holding that position.

The Inquirer tried to reach Vergeire for clarification on this DOH post, but she did not immediately respond.

Palace memo

A Malacañang memorandum notifying Vergeire of Cascolan’s appointment, which circulated on social media last week, stated that the former PNP chief was to replace Undersecretary Roger Tong-An, who served as undersecretary for field implementation and coordination team (for Central and South Luzon) and the Malasakit program office.

In the interview, Vergeire said that she was never offered the job of DOH secretary by the President. She was instead asked to serve as the department’s OIC.

She’s still hesitant

According to a 2000 Civil Service Commission resolution, an OIC has limited powers and these are mainly “confined to functions of administration” to ensure that the office “continues its usual activities.” The OIC has no power to appoint employees unless “expressly” authorized.

Vergeire said she raised her “reservations” to the President about assuming the top DOH post because it would affect her security of tenure.

A career health official, Vergeire said she had been at the DOH for almost three decades. If appointed secretary, she would have a term of only six years.

By the time she finishes her term, she would still have several years left before she leaves government service.

Except for those in the uniformed service, the mandatory retirement age for civil servants is 65.

“I want to serve until I retire,” Vergeire said.

“But as I always say … we can always set those reasons aside,” she added.

“We will see in the coming months or days what the decision of the President would be. As for me, the work continues,” she said.

According to Executive Order No. 292 of 1987, department undersecretaries like Vergeire are classified as a “career executive service” officials. This is a managerial class within a group of career postings in the civil service that was created to “form a continuing pool of well-selected and development-oriented career administrators.”

The President had said he would name a health secretary once the COVID-19 situation in the country “normalizes.”

—WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH

READ: Cascolan’s exact duties in DOH still being discussed, says Vergaire