More senators call out Duque over alarming 2nd wave claim, seek clarification

MANILA, Philippines — More senators on Thursday called out Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over his “alarming” statement that the country is now confronting the second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Duque, in a Senate hearing on Wednesday, explained that the first wave occurred when the country saw its first three cases of the virus, which involved the three Chinese nationals from Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province where the outbreak originated.

But Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Duque’s pronouncement “sowed panic” among different sectors.

“I was very alarmed with the statement of DOH (Department of Health) Secretary Duque yesterday that we are now on the second wave. I think we’re the only country in the world that has admitted that we are on a second wave,” he said at the beginning of the resumption of the Senate hearing on the government’s COVID-19 response.

Zubiri said the case of the three Chinese nationals, who were the first to be infected in the country, “was not even a ripple.”

“How could that have been a wave? In all my chat groups with medical doctors and frontliners, they have been commenting that it was a ridiculous statement that sowed panic to many groups, particularly business groups. Because now they have to explain to their employees as well as their potential clients why they reopened while we are on a second wave,” the senator said.

“Admitting that we are on a second wave actually shows incompetence on the department or their personnel because that means you were not able to control the first wave,” he added.

Zubiri also pointed to the recent statements of  Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año that disputed Duque’s pronouncement.

“We have not controlled the pandemic in this first wave to be able to create a second wave. I hope that the government can correct this because it’s sowing panic among our people that we are now on the second wave,” he added.

Senator Joel Villanueva also called on the government to clarify Duque’s statement.

“It’s a cause of concern and I wanted to find out ano ba talaga ang situation,” Villanueva said.

“I hope maclarify po ito nang husto because we are now causing a lot of trouble and again a great concern to each and every one of us,” he added.

Other senators have also disagreed with Duque, saying his remarks were “premature.”