Senators irked at DOH over failure of leadership in dealing with nCoV
Published Feb 4, 2020 12:00 am
By Hannah Torregoza
The Department of Health (DOH) officials on Tuesday found themselves at the receiving end of the senators’ frustration and anger when they appeared at the Senate committee on health’s inquiry into the country’s response to the novel coronavirus (nCoV).
Senate of the Philippines (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Tensions were high when senators grilled Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over the apparent lack of command responsibility in dealing with the nCoV situation in the Philippines.
The DOH first reported the first positive case of the coronavirus last Jan. 30. Then on Feb. 2, reported the second case—and the first fatality—of the nCoV.
On top of this was the government’s late imposition of a ban on travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and the inability of the DOH to contact the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who were positive for nCoV. These two Chinese nationals came from Wuhan, traveled to Hong Kong, then to Manila.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson stressed the importance of the principle of unity of command in dealing with the nCoV situation, with the DOH taking charge.
“What happens to the principle of unity of command? I thought this is a health issue, and the DOH should be the first line of defense and should be designated as the office of primary responsibility,” Lacson pointed out in the hearing.
Lacson said the DOH should not be blaming the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) over the failure to contain the entry of the disease.
“You shouldn’t be blaming other people because this is a health issue. And it’s wrong to point to the BI and CAAP, it should be the initiative of the DOH. What we have here, as Sen. (Francis) Pangilinan mentioned earlier, is a failure of leadership,” Lacson pointed out.
In the hearing, Duque admitted they were only able to contact 17 percent of the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals positive for nCoV.
Responding to a question posed by Sen. Nancy Binay, Duque admitted the government has yet to contact all of the persons who came in contact with the two Chinese nationals during the flight to the Philippines.
“It’s been how many days already? And you haven’t contacted 100 percent all these persons the patient came into contact with? It’s understandable if its hotels or restaurants, but airplanes?” Binay pointed out.
Binay said the DOH could have used the passenger manifesto to locate the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who both flew Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines flights.
The problem, Duque said, was that the airlines are invoking confidentiality.
“We managed to contact 17 percent or a total of 331 persons. Airlines are not sharing contact details of the passengers. They are invoking confidentiality, so this is what we need to face,” Duque said.
READ MORE: Airlines deny being uncooperative with gov’t over passenger lists of flights taken by nCoV patients
But Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the DOH should step up its efforts and be prepared for the worst case scenario.
“Are we prepared? We don’t want our countrymen and women to panic. But we have to assure them and answer the most fundamental question: are we prepared for the worst?” Hontiveros pointed out.
Hontiveros likewise urged the DOH to implement a stronger community health surveillance system.
Citing the first case of nCoV, a Chinese woman, Hontiveros said they would not have known they have the nCoV if they did not go for a check up.
“Ang worry ko dito ay marami-rami na ring kaso ng mga kagaya ng ating first confirmed case. Pwedeng mamasyal pa kung saan-saan, at dumarami ang contact points, (My worry here is that there are many cases like that of our first confirmed case. They might go somewhere else, and the contact points increase),” Hontiveros remarked.
“The first nCoV case in the country also reportedly traveled to Cebu and Dumaguete before she was diagnosed in Manila. Do we have any idea how many of them have already entered the country prior to our travel ban?” she asked.
Senators said it is imperative for the DOH to mandate travelers from China who arrived in the Philippines over the past three weeks to report to local health authorities.
“The DOH needs to step up. Hindi mo masisisi ang ilan nating kababayang mag-alala kung hindi naman ka-level ng Japan ang healthcare system mo (You can’t blame our citizens to be worried, because we don’t have a health care system that’s at par with Japan’s),” Hontiveros said.
“We need to assure the public that we are prepared.”
Senate of the Philippines (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Tensions were high when senators grilled Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over the apparent lack of command responsibility in dealing with the nCoV situation in the Philippines.
The DOH first reported the first positive case of the coronavirus last Jan. 30. Then on Feb. 2, reported the second case—and the first fatality—of the nCoV.
On top of this was the government’s late imposition of a ban on travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and the inability of the DOH to contact the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who were positive for nCoV. These two Chinese nationals came from Wuhan, traveled to Hong Kong, then to Manila.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson stressed the importance of the principle of unity of command in dealing with the nCoV situation, with the DOH taking charge.
“What happens to the principle of unity of command? I thought this is a health issue, and the DOH should be the first line of defense and should be designated as the office of primary responsibility,” Lacson pointed out in the hearing.
Lacson said the DOH should not be blaming the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) over the failure to contain the entry of the disease.
“You shouldn’t be blaming other people because this is a health issue. And it’s wrong to point to the BI and CAAP, it should be the initiative of the DOH. What we have here, as Sen. (Francis) Pangilinan mentioned earlier, is a failure of leadership,” Lacson pointed out.
In the hearing, Duque admitted they were only able to contact 17 percent of the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals positive for nCoV.
Responding to a question posed by Sen. Nancy Binay, Duque admitted the government has yet to contact all of the persons who came in contact with the two Chinese nationals during the flight to the Philippines.
“It’s been how many days already? And you haven’t contacted 100 percent all these persons the patient came into contact with? It’s understandable if its hotels or restaurants, but airplanes?” Binay pointed out.
Binay said the DOH could have used the passenger manifesto to locate the co-passengers of the two Chinese nationals who both flew Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines flights.
The problem, Duque said, was that the airlines are invoking confidentiality.
“We managed to contact 17 percent or a total of 331 persons. Airlines are not sharing contact details of the passengers. They are invoking confidentiality, so this is what we need to face,” Duque said.
READ MORE: Airlines deny being uncooperative with gov’t over passenger lists of flights taken by nCoV patients
But Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the DOH should step up its efforts and be prepared for the worst case scenario.
“Are we prepared? We don’t want our countrymen and women to panic. But we have to assure them and answer the most fundamental question: are we prepared for the worst?” Hontiveros pointed out.
Hontiveros likewise urged the DOH to implement a stronger community health surveillance system.
Citing the first case of nCoV, a Chinese woman, Hontiveros said they would not have known they have the nCoV if they did not go for a check up.
“Ang worry ko dito ay marami-rami na ring kaso ng mga kagaya ng ating first confirmed case. Pwedeng mamasyal pa kung saan-saan, at dumarami ang contact points, (My worry here is that there are many cases like that of our first confirmed case. They might go somewhere else, and the contact points increase),” Hontiveros remarked.
“The first nCoV case in the country also reportedly traveled to Cebu and Dumaguete before she was diagnosed in Manila. Do we have any idea how many of them have already entered the country prior to our travel ban?” she asked.
Senators said it is imperative for the DOH to mandate travelers from China who arrived in the Philippines over the past three weeks to report to local health authorities.
“The DOH needs to step up. Hindi mo masisisi ang ilan nating kababayang mag-alala kung hindi naman ka-level ng Japan ang healthcare system mo (You can’t blame our citizens to be worried, because we don’t have a health care system that’s at par with Japan’s),” Hontiveros said.
“We need to assure the public that we are prepared.”