Senator Richard Gordon deserves to keep his post as chairman of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) because he served his position with competence especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

Under Gordon’s leadership, Gatchalian said the PRC was able to intensify the country’s testing capacity against the coronavirus.

“Hindi ko ho nakikita na dapat siyang mag-step down personally dahil unang-una nung tumama ang COVID at wala tayong testing capacity. Ang Red Cross ang unang-unang nagtayo ng testing capacity sa ating bansa (I don’t agree that he should step down personally because when the COVID-19 first hit the country, we had no testing capacity. Only the Red Cross was able to ramp up testing capacity in the country),” Gatchalian said in a Laging Handa briefing.

“Ito nasabi ko na last year pa sa maraming interview na doon sa nung pumalo po ang COVID 19 at rumaragasa po ang COVID 19 last year, almost 90 percent ng capacity natin, nasa Red Cross (I’ve said that last year, that when the COVID-19 ravaged us last year, almost 90 percent of our testing capacity was done by the Red Cross),” he reiterated.

“I have to give credit to where credit is due. Si Chairman Gordon po ang nanguna. In fact, to be honest about it, nung una, nagkaroon din ako ng duda kung kakayanin niya dahil bago ito (at first I also doubted if he can lead it because this is something new). But he did,” the senator said.

Gatchalian, who is also a member of the Board of Governors in the PRC, said they were amazed that Gordon was able to pool pathologists, experts and purchase the equipment needed for the testing centers.

“Ang hirap kumuha ng experts, kahit na may pera ka hindi mo alam paano ise-set up dahil ang mga pathologists hindi trained (It’s hard to get experts, even if you have money, it’s hard to set it up because even the pathologists are not trained),” he pointed out.

“Pero nagawa ni Chairman Gordon sa kanyang pangunguna (But Chairman Gordon was able to do so under his leadership). So we have to give credit where credit is due,” he stressed.

Gatchalian further said he supports the ongoing probe by the Senate blue ribbon committee’s, chaired by Gordon, on the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management’s procurement service (DBM-PS) procurement of overpriced COVID-19 pandemic supplies.

“Regardless, whether the Committee of the Whole o Blue Ribbon, ang importante po ay malalaman natin ang katotohanan. Makikita natin ang butas o loopholes at maayos natin ang Sistema (it’s important that we know the truth. We need to see the loopholes and learn how to fix the system),” the senator stressed.