House Deputy Speaker and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante on Friday, August 13 dared Health Secretary Francisco Duque to resign and spare President Rodrigo Duterte of the task of defending him again from accusations that he mismanaged government funds allocated to address the COVID-19 crisis.
Abante said that while he can personally back Duque’s good performance as Department of Health (DOH) chief in the past, the Cabinet official failed to maintain this.
“When it comes to government officials, it is one's performance in the present that matters, not one's past,” said Abante.
Abante said "leaders in government should be held accountable for their actions today––not what they did years ago––especially when it comes to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.” The veteran administration lawmaker recalled having worked with Duque in the past and noticed how “well” the health secretary performed in his first tour of duty in the DOH.
"At this point, however, it may serve the greater good for Sec. Duque to step down so Malacañang does not have to repeatedly defend him and can instead focus on addressing the pandemic."
The lawmaker from Manila stressed that "there are various indicators that show that Sec. Duque may not be the right man to lead the DOH during this COVID-19 crisis." Calls for Duque’s resignation were also echoed in the Senate following the release by the Commission on Audit (COA) of the 2020 Annual Audit Report (AAR) for the DOH.
The AAR disclosed audit deficiencies in the management by the DOH of some P67.32 billion in anti-COVID-19 funds, with Duque’s department being faulted for various acts of mismanagement and questions of regularity and propriety in the transactions.
"The latest COA (Commission on Audit) report is just the latest evidence that right now the leadership of the DOH is inadequate,” noted Abante.
“Sec. Duque dropped the ball in efforts to procure vaccines early; he dropped the ball in overseeing PhilHealth and preventing the abuses there; and now the COA is saying he dropped the ball in handling the billions of pesos allocated by Congress for pandemic response," lamented the solon.
He added: ”We need someone who can juggle all these responsibilities in the middle of a crisis, and right now it appears that Sec. Duque is not that person."