Senator Christopher ‘’Bong’’ Go on Friday, August 27 appealed to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque to make the ‘’supreme sacrifice.’’
Apparently taken aback on the Go statement and what that meant, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson asked whether Go was asking Duque to resign.
‘’Can a senator ask a secretary to resign?’’ Lacson asked, adding that senators can ask a secretary to resign through a resolution.
‘’Advise lang ako. Naawa ako kay Presidente,’’ Go said in today’s continuation of the hybrid public hearing by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) that showed alleged incompetence of the DOH in the handling of its P68 billion COVID-19 response funds.
After stating that he is willing to go down along with Duque, President Duterte later changed his tune when he said he would accept the resignation of Duque if he does so voluntarily.
Duque said he has been attending the Senate public hearings to clear the DOH of the COA findings.
Last year, a majority of senators asked President Duterte to fire Duque for his ‘’mishandling’’ of his job as chairman of the of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) board.
The call has been reiterated after senators questioned his handling of the current anti-COVID 19 program.
Go maintained that ‘’lumalabas na mailinis siya (It appears that Duque is clean)’’ that his family can be proud of.
‘’If it is time comes for me to resign...’’ Duque said, adding that he wants to clear the COA findings of his department’s ‘’mishandling’’ of its funds.
Gordon reminded Duque that senators have been open to his answers and have ‘’given you much leeway and we never insulted you.’’
Duque, according to Gordon, is a hard working man.