Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III reckoned Friday, July 29 that the Department of Health (DOH) should start planning how to combat monkeypox after the first case of monkeypox was recorded in the country earlier the same day.
‘’There should be a plan. But no need to emphasize monkey pox over one case. No need to be alarmed or to panic. Relax lang. mag plano muna (plan first),’’ he said in a Viber message.
Pimentel, however, stressed the urgency of the vacated post of DOH secretary being filled up.
Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire is at the helm of the DOH after she was appointed as officer-in-charge (OIC) by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. at the start of his presidency.