Duque, bayani sa paglaban sa COVID… 'Pinas, mas oks pa rin kumpara sa ibang bansa — P-DU30

ni Ronalyn Seminiano Reonico | May 4, 2021

Sa kabila ng patuloy na paglobo ng kaso ng COVID-19, para kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ay “hero” ng Pilipinas si Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III kaugnay ng pakikipaglaban ng bansa sa pandemya.

Sa taped public briefing, saad ni P-Duterte, “Compared with other countries, which is not the time to make comparisons, we’re doing good in the fight against COVID. And Secretary Duque is the hero there.”

Samantala, matatandaang marami ang kritiko at bumabatikos laban kay Duque hindi lamang dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa, kundi maging sa mga alegasyong anomalya sa Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Pahayag naman ni Senator Panfilo Lacson sa kanyang tweet, “He said that the Philippines is doing good in the fight against COVID-19 and called his health secretary a ‘hero.’ What he really meant was ‘hilo.’”

Duque, nagpaliwanang sa pagkaantala ng pagdating ng COVID vaccine

ni Ronalyn Seminiano Reonico | December 24, 2020

Inamin ni Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III na nasaktan siya matapos masisi ng publiko sa pagkakaantala ng maaga sanang pagdating sa bansa ng 10 million doses ng COVID-19 vaccine mula sa Pfizer.

Pahayag ni Duque, “Masakit lang sa akin kasi nga, eh, sana hindi ganoon. Sana napag-usapan, nagbigay ng sulat, formal, may documentation lahat, because to me that’s how professional governance works.”

Ibinulgar ni Senator Panfilo Lacson kamakailan na sa January 2021, nakatakdang dumating sa Pilipinas ang 10 million doses ng COVID-19 vaccine mula sa Pfizer kung naging mabilis lamang sana ang pagpirma sa Confidential Disclosure Agreement.

Pinabulaanan naman ni Duque ang akusasyon sa diumano’y mabagal niyang pag-aksiyon upang malagdaan ang CDA.

Aniya, “I have already said this over and over again. There was no dropping the ball. Ang ginawa natin dito is due diligence. We cannot be reckless. We cannot be signing documents without legal clearance.

“The problem is if people talk and yet they do not have the competence to comprehend the complexities of the vaccine selection, scientific evaluation, procurement, distribution, production, storage, logistical requirements, the actual immunization program. These are all the imperatives of our vaccine roadmap and we must understand the process.”

Mensahe rin ni Duque sa publiko, “Ako as a professional, trabaho na lang tayo, we move forward, we explain to the people. We leave it at that. “We have too much on our plate. We cannot spend our time bickering and trying to say something to counter somebody’s statement. So we just move on kasi ang bigat-bigat ng ating hamon.”