MANILA – Mayor Jerry Treñas urged Health secretary Francisco Duque III to step down for “not making correct decisions” since the start of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines.
“I think it is time for him to accept responsibility and voluntarily resign for the sake of the country,”
Treñas said during the flag-raising ceremony at city hall on Monday morning.
Despite the country having the “longest lockdown,” COVID-19 cases continue to spike, he pointed out.
Duque and other Department of Health (DOH) officials face an investigation by the Ombudsman over alleged irregularities in the agency’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Covered by the investigation are the purchase of COVID-19 test kits, delayed procurement of personal protective equipment and other medical gears for healthcare workers, alleged lapses that led to the death of medical workers and the rising number of deaths and infections involving medical frontliners.
The Ombudsman also included the inaction in the release of financial assistance to fallen and infected medical frontliners and the delayed reporting of COVID-19-related deaths and confirmed cases.
“Libagon gid ang tanan nga gina-obra nila,” Treñas said.
He also questioned the DOH’s recent move to pull out rural doctors from Western Visayas to Cebu City which is under enhanced community quarantine due to COVID-19.
“I do not really know if that is a correct decision and I do not want to make a decision on this because that is already beyond my sphere of responsibility,” said Treñas.
Western Visayas’ rural doctors under the DOH’s Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) decried the order deploying them to Cebu City to help unspecified private hospitals there.
In a statement, DTTB doctors expressed concern over DOH’s preparation for such deployment. They were informed about being pulled out from their current assignments in various municipalities only on Friday, June 26.
These doctors are to be stationed in Cebu from June 30 to Sept. 5 in four batches of 10 doctors for each batch of deployment. Each batch’s duty period is two weeks.
It was the DOH Undersecretary for Field Implementation and Coordination Team for Visayas and Mindanao Abdullah Dumama Jr. who ordered the deployment.
For his part, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said, “I will leave that to the President,” referring to calls for Duque’s resignation.
“Wala ako sa position mag-usisa kon ano gid ang sirkumstansya sang trabaho nila didto sa Manila sang Department of Health,” said Defensor.
According to the governorr, he cannot yet give a fair assessment on the matter as he does not have a close working relation with Duque.
“Ang buot ko silingon [sang] working relation [amo] nga indi amo na kalapit kag indi ko mabal-an eh. I don’t have a basis to judge the work of that person,” Defensor said./PN
