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GIVE UP. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte confesses with the Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III during a meeting with the Inter-institutional Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malacanan Palace on March 9, 2020. Photo from Malacanang
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Majority senators asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to re-acknowledge his “leadership failure” in the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
At least 14 senators co-authored Senate Resolution No. 362, calling for Duque’s resignation for his “failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency in performance.”
This, they said, led to “poor planning, a late response, lack of transparency, and wrong and failed policies and measures” in addressing the pandemic.
The following senators signed the resolution:
- The President of the Senate, Vicente Sotto III
- Leader of the Senate majority Juan Miguel Zubiri
- Sonny Angara
- Nancy Binay
- Grace poe
- Joel Villanueva
- Francis Tolentino
- Imee Marcos
- Manny pacquiao
- Sherwin Gatchalian
- Ronald dela Rosa
- Ramon Revilla Jr
- Lito Lapid
- Panfilo Lacson
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto was supposed to be among the signers of the resolution, but was unable to submit his electronic signature on time.
Angara, who recently recovered from coronavirus disease, said there should be a change in health policy when facing the pandemic.
“Senators, as representatives of the people, have been observing and are very disappointed with DOH’s response to this great crisis,” Angara said.
He said in the Philippines that the country needs “more proactive leadership against the virus.”
On April 9, Duque had falsely claimed that the Philippines had a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. The country has lagged behind other nations. When it comes to testing, the Philippines has so far outperformed its Southeast Asian neighbors in coronavirus cases.
In late January, Duque had similarly discouraged the travel ban to China, only to reverse that decision days later. The government banned foreigners coming from China, Hong Kong, Macao, and even Taiwan, albeit briefly.
The Philippines is among the most risky countries during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent analysis of global pandemic data.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Philippines had 5,453 coronavirus cases, 349 of which died. At least 353 have recovered from the virus.
– Rappler.com
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