The Department of Health (DoH) faced the hardest challenge in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic that started early this year and is still affecting countries worldwide.
“Ang masasabi ko (All I can say is that), 2020 is the most difficult year in the history of the Department. The most difficult…Buong mundo (The whole world) has been brought down to its knees,” said DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III.
“Even the most powerful countries talagang pinaiyak ng (really shed tears because of) COVID-19. Lahat talaga umiyak dito. Sobrang takot, pag-aalangan, sobrang maraming mga unknowns (Everyone really cried. Too much fear, hesitation, too many unknowns),” he added.
Pandemic
The COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on Jan. 30 after it was also detected in other parts of the world. On March 11, the WHO characterized it as a pandemic.
On Jan. 5, the DOH ordered the Bureau of Quarantine to closely monitor all incoming travelers, especially those manifesting fever or signs of respiratory infection after a "mysterious illness" hounded China which was later on identified as the COVID-19.
On Jan. 30, the DOH confirmed the country’s first case of COVID-19, a 38-year-old Chinese woman who traveled to the Philippines from Wuhan, China.
A day after, the Philippine government issued an order to temporarily stop the entry of travelers from China’s Hubei province where Wuhan is located. The coverage of the travel ban was later on widened to mainland China and its special administrative regions (SARs) Hong Kong and Macau.
The Philippines made headlines internationally on Feb. 2 after it announced the death of a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan who tested positive for COVID-19, making it the first COVID-19 related death in the country and outside of China.
A month later, the DOH confirmed the first case of local transmission in the Philippines. As of this writing, the country has 471,526 confirmed cases, including 439,016 recoveries and 9,162 deaths.
“As I've said, the COVID-19 was an evolving phenomenon. As far as we are concerned –the DOH – has prepared for this as early as Jan. 6. We tightened our border controls once we got information of this deadly virus in Wuhan City of China and we put in place all the necessary precautionary measures,” said Duque.
Duque criticized
During the course of the pandemic, Duque was heavily criticized over his handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Some senators in April called on Duque to resign from his post due to "failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency in performance" in addressing the health crisis.
The Office of the Ombudsman also launched last June an investigation to look into the delayed procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for medical frontliners, the alleged inaction of the DOH in the processing and releasing of benefits of “fallen” health workers, and the delayed reporting of COVID-19 data.
“We had global supply chain limitations – We had problems in terms of (procuring) PPEs, we had problems with testing kits and so on,” said Duque in Pilipino.
Despite the criticisms, the DOH expressed support for Duque.
“We have always stood by at the Secretary. Hindi naman po siya nagkulang sa direction at mga pamumuno sa Kagawaran ng Kalusugan (He is not lacking in terms of giving directions at the Department of Health),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire last Sept. 8.
She underscored that it would not be "proper" to change leadership at this point when the country is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government response
Since the start of the pandemic, Duque said that the government continues to strengthen its responses against the COVID-19.
He cited that the Philippines now has 11,000 temporary treatment and monitoring facilities with an overall bed capacity of 170,000. The testing laboratories nationwide are now at 198 with a capacity to test 34,000 to 35,000 people per day, while COVID-19 dedicated beds are at 23,000.
“The challenges that we have gone through were not easy and these challenge will continue, that is why we need to expand our capacities and capabilities in order to maintain our daily low cases as well as to strike a balance between economy and the health of our people,” said Duque in Pilipino.
COVID protocols
The Health chief noted that COVID-19 health protocols helped in the decrease of cases of other diseases such as measles and dengue.
“Nung nagpatupad tayo ng minimum health standards, bumagsak ang kaso ng measles by almost 90 percent…(at) bumagsak ang dengue by almost 70 percent (When we implemented the minimum health standards, the cases of measles dropped by almost 90 percent… (and) dengue dropped by almost 70 percent),” said Duque.
“This means that our health protocols have a value added. This is not only against COVID-19, but also for other diseases,” he said in Pilipino.
“This is a consolation to know and that way, the hospitals also are not overwhelmed. Can you imagine if there is a spike in dengue and measles and then we also have COVID?”
Duque assured that the government will continue to improve its strategies against the pandemic in terms of prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration.
“The goal here is really economic recovery and normalcy of the lives of our people,” he said.
PhilHealth controversy
Corruption allegations rocked the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) which is an attached agency of the DOH.
Last July, lawyer Thorsson Montes Keith resigned from his position as an anti-fraud officer at PhilHealth, citing “widespread corruption” in the State health agency. This prompted the Senate to conduct an investigation. Keith accused some executives of the State health insurer of being involved in the alleged unauthorized release of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).
The IRM is an emergency cash advance measure of PhilHealth to “provide hospitals with an emergency fund to respond to unanticipated events like natural disaster and calamities.”
Last August, PhilHealth suspended the implementation of the IRM but maintained that the measure was “legal and necessary for the country's overall COVID-19 response.” PhilHealth also denied that its senior officials have “pocketed" some P15 billion as alleged by Keith.
Keith linked Duque and PhilHealth former president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales on the alleged fraudulent activities in the State health insurer. Keith accused Duque as the “godfather” while Morales was dubbed as the “coddler” of the so-called “mafia” within PhilHealth. Amid the controversy, Morales resigned from his position, citing his health condition.
Duque and Morales denied the accusations of Keith. The Health chief said that the allegation against him was “malicious and without basis.” In September, the legal team of Morales said that the latter “is a man of integrity and completely denies any wrongdoings” and that he intends to clear his name.
After Morales vacated his post, Duterte appointed former National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran as the new chief of PhilHealth. In September, Gierran expressed optimism that he would be able to address the different alleged irregularities that hound the agency.
“I have a mandate from the President, to eradicate corruption in the corporation and of course, to investigate them all, find out what and who is the source of corruption; and then when we find out, we will file the appropriate charges,” he then said.