
Doctor Eric Tayag was appointed as undersecretary of the Department of Health (DOH).
Tayag confirmed his appointment through a text message to Manila Bulletin.
When asked when he will take his oath of office, Tayag answered “waiting for advice.”
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 15, DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire also confirmed the appointment of Tayag.
“Yes, Director Eric Tayag, we received the transmittal of his appointment yesterday. He has not taken his oath yet, we are still scheduling so he has not assumed the position yet,” said Vergeire.
“Pinag-uusapan pa ngayon ng aming mga officials kung saan namin sya appropriately, based on his capacity, ma-i-aassign para mas makatulong sating Kagawaran (Our officials are still discussing where we can assign him appropriately, based on his capacity, so that he can better help our Department),” she added.
Prior to his appointment as undersecretary, Tayag held the position of Director IV of the DOH’s Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service.
Tayag is known as the health official who promotes the DOH programs through dancing.
Cascolan
Former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Camilo Cascolan started his work as health undersecretary last Monday, Nov. 14.
“He is assigned in our Visayas office for operations, that would be Regions 6, 7 and 8. I specifically instructed him to look into first, the vaccination coverage in the areas; second, logistics management to inventory all our commodities, specifically Covid-19 vaccines,” said Vergeire.
Vergeire said that Cascolan “had experience in procurement, logistics management during his time in his previous work.”
“We also gave him that instruction na dapat maayos nya yung network ng ating mga ospital from primary care to higher-level care sa (that he should fix the network of our hospitals from primary care to higher-level care in) Regions 6, 7, 8,” she said.
To recall, the DOH confirmed the appointment of Cascolan last Oct. 23.
The other undersecretaries of the state health agency are Dr. Lilibeth David, Maria Carolina Vidal-Taino, Dr. Abdullah Dumama Jr, Dr. Kenneth Ronquillo, Dr. Nestor Santiago, and Dr. Maria Francia Laxamana.