Infectious disease expert, Dr. Edsel Maurice T. Salvaña, on Monday, May 16, declined to comment on the circulating rumor that he will be picked by the incoming administration as the next secretary of the Department of Health (DOH).

Salvaña is currently a member of the the DOH’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
“May naririnig din po akong ganyan siguro sa ngayon po ay no comment na lang po muna ako man (I heard about it but for now I have no comment for the meantime). Let’s go through the official channels kung mayroon (if there is any),” he said during a Laging Handa virtual briefing.
“Kung mayroon man mga ganyang bagay, siguro, hintayin na lang po natin kung may (If there is anything like that, maybe, we should wait for it when there is already an )announcement from the proper authorities,” he stressed.
According to him, he would rather focus on Covid-19 prevention and control right now as there is still a pandemic in the country.
“Talagang tuloy-tuloy pa rin ito, the last thing we need right now is umakyat na naman ang cases ng Covid-19 sa atin (There is still a pandemic, the last thing we need right now is for the number of Covid-19 cases to go up),” said Salvaña.
Recently, a photo of supposed cabinet appointees of the incoming administration circulated on various social media sites.