Sen. Francis Pangilinan has proposed three health experts to lead the government's COVID-19 response instead of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Pangilinan said the government can tap public health experts "who can lead the government to lower COVID cases, higher recoveries, and a more comprehensive, logical set of guidelines that would create a better normal."
"I nominate Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gap Legaspi, former Health Secretaries Manuel Dayrit or Esperanza Cabral," Pangilinan said in a statement.
"Problema ang leadership (The problem is leadership). Ano ang solusyon sa problema ng leadership (What is the solution to this problem of leaership)? Palitan si Duque at mga nakapaligid dito at ilagay ang mahuhusay na public health experts (Replace Duque and the people around him with competent public health experts)."
"Hayaan natin ang mga mahuhusay na eksperto ang siyang mamuno ng IATF (Let's allow competent experts to lead the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases). Hindi tayo inutil (We are not inutile). Maraming magagaling na eksperto na mga doktor sa bansa (There are several competent experts and doctors in the country). Kaya natin talunin ang COVID-19 basta mahusay ang in charge (We can defeat COVID-19 as long as those in charge are competent)," he added.
The opposition senator has repeatedly called for Duque's resignation from the Department of Health (DoH) over the government's "lackluster response" to the health crisis.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines have reached a total of 252,964, with 4,040 new cases recorded as of Friday, Sept. 11, he pointed out.
He also noted the Philippine's performance in handling the outbreak and compared to other countries in Asia.
"Kung karera ang kampanya laban sa COVID-19, ang ibang bansa sa Asya tulad ng Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, at South Korea ay tumatakbo nang mabilis patungo sa finish line, habang ang Pilipinas gumagapang sa pagkakulelat (If the fight against COVID-19 was a race, other countries in Asia like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea are running fast to get to the finish line, while the Philippines is lagging behind),” the opposition lawmaker said.
"Without sweeping changes in leadership and direction at the DoH and our COVID task forces, we can only expect the cases to rise and relegate the Philippines further to last," Pangilinan said.