"Why is the secretary so untouchable despite being, at the very least, spectacularly incompetent?"
What would it take for the President to realize that he needs to fire Health Secretary Francisco Duque and, at the soonest possible time, name a competent one to take his place?
Why, after so many grievous offenses during the past year that we have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic, has Duque managed to cling to his post and continued to enjoy the trust and confidence of his principal?
Why has President Duterte turned a deaf ear to the widespread clamor for Duque’s sacking?
Over the weekend, amid news of a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, Duque said there was no need for a travel ban unless a community transmission involving the new strain is proven to have occurred.
This brings us horrifically back to the early part of this year, when Duque, instead of taking the opposite position, said he was not in favor of banning flights from China because he was concerned about maintaining diplomatic ties with our neighbor. We all know what happened next.
And while the rest of the world was beginning to gain access to much-needed vaccines to counter the pandemic, we learned in early December that Duque had in fact “dropped the ball” months ago when he failed to act with urgency on the United States’ offer to provide us 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Duque characteristically offered his own version of events, saying he was erring on the side of caution, in the same manner that he has given us alternative-fact versions of truths like keeping our throats moist to avoid contracting the virus, that we were the ones first to impose preventive measures, that we had one of the lowest infection rates in the world, that asymptomatic patients were not contagious, and that we were already on the next wave of infections.
He has also failed to be transparent about COVID-related procurement and on the P15-billion scam at PhilHealth.
This holiday season, many have ventured to go out of their bubbles and taken risks—we can only hope they are more calculated than reckless—to resume their “normal” ways. We dread the toll this would have on the COVID numbers a week or so from today. We do not know how much longer the dreaded virus would plague us, but we do know that Duque at the helm of the department that is supposed to be science-based, deliberate and decisive will not make our journey easier.
If there were one person deserving to lead us during these still-perilous times, Duque would not be that person —not in his own capacity, certainly not as the alter-ego of the President. We truly wonder why he is so infallible in Mr. Duterte’s eyes, and so untouchable despite his transgressions.