The Department of Health (DOH) is still waiting on who will be appointed as its next chief, the agency’s spokesperson said.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement on Thursday, July 7. Health officials on Wednesday, July 6, met President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to discuss key issues on public health. As for the new Secretary of Health, it was not discussed during the said meeting, said Vergeire.
“Hindi po kasama sa pinag-usapan natin ang Secretary of Health (The issue about the Secretary of Health was not included in the discussion). We had a technical discussion as to the strategies and situation of Covid and our vaccination program. Bukod doon, wala na pong ibang pinag-usapan with our President (Apart from that, we have not discussed anything else with our President),” said Vergeire in a press briefing.
Vergeire said it is also inappropriate to ask the President why there are delays in appointing the next Health chief.
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“It is really inappropriate for us to ask the President why it is taking long for him (to appoint),” she said.
Vergeire said that they understand the process in choosing the country’s top health official.
“Naiintindihan po natin ang proseso ng ating President and ang kanilang mga opisyales na talagang mahirap po talagang pumili ng ating mga opisyales dahil kailangan pong maging masusi ang pagpili, kaya po mas nagiging matagal pa (We understand the process of our President and his officials. It is really difficult to choose your officials as the selection process should be done carefully. This might be causing the delay),” she said.
At present, the DOH is continuously implementing the different policies regarding public health, said Vergeire.
“Rest assured the government and the President has issued orders already para walang gaps sa proseso (so that there are no gaps in our processes),” she said.