‘Medyo makapal:’ Tulfo presses Duque to resign amid issues hounding DOH

MANILA, Philippines — “Medyo makapal ang mukha.”

This was how senatorial aspirant and media personality Raffy Tulfo described Health Secretary Francisco Duque III as he urged the latter to step down from his position amid the numerous issues that hounded the Department of Health (DOH) during the pandemic.

READ: ‘Nakasandal sa pader’: Duque secures grip in DOH with Duterte backing

“Sorry a, medyo makapal ang mukha ni [Sec.] Duque, kasi dapat, Mr. Secretary, do yourself a big favor maging si Presidente [Rodrigo Duterte] dahil best friend mo siya, resign,” Tulfo said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday when asked about President Rodrigo Duterte’s continued defense of Duque.

“Kasi pabigat siya sa pangulo. Dapat sila ang nagdedepensa sa pangulo. Ang nangyari kasi the other way around. It is the president who’s been defending these people,” he added.

The latest among the issues involving the DOH is the “deficiencies” earlier flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) on how the agency handled its pandemic funds worth around P67 billion.

This triggered the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct their respective investigation on the matter.

“Itong mga taong ito, mahina sila pagdating sila sa pagdedepensa sa ating Pangulo…Sec. Duque, kung hindi mo kayang gawin yun, mag-resign ka na. Medyo nipis nipisan mo naman yung mukha mo, Sir,” Tulfo went on.

INQUIRER.net has sought Duque’s comment on Tulfo’s remarks but has yet to receive a response as of writing.

But Duque has time and again said he has no problem with resigning. In a television interview last Aug. 19, Duque said he tried to resign several times but was requested not to.

For Duterte’s part, he said he would allow Duque to resign if the latter would offer to “voluntarily” quit. This, after the President has repeatedly defended his health chief and said he would not accept his resignation.

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