De Lima thinks Duque remains in Cabinet so public has someone to blame

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima thinks that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has not been fired from his post is because the administration needs someone to keep as a scapegoat for the alleged problems in the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My guess is the President just needs a whipping boy for the tragedy that they themselves have brought to our nation,” De Lima said in a handwritten note issued from the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, where she is detained on drug-related charges.

“Maybe that’s why he can’t be removed. So that the people will have some to blame,” she added in Filipino.

“So basically, you are letting Sec. Duque act as captain of the sinking ship so that he can be this administration’s fall guy? … It would be OK if you [administration officials] would be the only ones who will drown. But then you have dragged us along with you. Have some shame,” she went on.

De Lima made the statement amid numerous calls for Duque to resign as the Department of Health chief — calls that had been made since the pandemic started, during the lockdown periods due to the local outbreak, and recently after he wrongly claimed that the country was already flattening the infection curve.

Last April, 14 senators signed a resolution urging Duque to spare the President from further trouble by just stepping down from his post.

Several groups, like the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the Alliance of Health Workers, made a similar demand after Duque made the “flattening” claim despite a steady increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide.

Duque shrugged off these calls, saying that he continued to serve at the pleasure of the President.

According to De Lima, who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center for drug-related charges, people are already wondering what makes Duque special.

Duque, the subject of an Ombudsman probe over lapses in the COVID-19 response, particularly in protecting healthcare workers, has been vouched for by President Rodrigo Duterte in one of his briefings.

“Everyone is wondering just what makes Sec. Duque so special that he gets to move on completely unscathed despite his countless and consequential blunders,” De Lima said.

“Every mistake he has made has led us to where we stand today – surpassing UP’s 60k prediction, overwhelmed hospitals, over-fatigued medical healthcare workers, and the citizenry’s distrust. Please naman: Don’t turn the Filipinos’ miseries into a travesty,” she added.

As of now, there are 70,764 confirmed COVID-19 patients nationwide, with 1,837 deaths and 23,281 recoveries.  This figure surpassed the University of the Philippines COVID-19 response team’s initial prediction of 60,000 cases, and is on track to matching the latest prediction of 85,000.

/atm