Ed Javier • May 25, 2020
Time to let Secretary Duque Go
When Dr. Francisco Duque III was appointed Health Secretary under the Duterte Administration in 2017, observers were quick to hail his “political durability” and ability to reemerge into the public limelight amid changes in the national leadership.
Duque “survived” the administration of former President Noynoy Aquino after he was appointed chair of a constitutional body - the Civil Service Commission - by the outgoing Arroyo Administration just before its exit.
There were speculations that the country may have seen the last of the flamboyant health secretary when his term as CSC chair expired in 2015.
Such speculations were doused with cold water when he resurfaced in the Duterte Administration a year into the current President’s term.
Duque was named chair of the Government Service Insurance Service (GSIS), a plum position that would have been given to someone in the President’s innermost circle.
When he returned to the Department of Health (DoH) in 2017, he became only the second health secretary to have done so.
The late revered Health Secretary Paulino Garcia achieved that singular feat when he was given the portfolio during the terms of Presidents Magsaysay and Marcos.
Yesterday, in our radio program, Executive Session, aired over radio station DZRH, my co-hosts DFA Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin, Jr., Cavite Rep. Boying Remulla, former Senator JV Ejercito, former Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz, Undersecretary Dodo Dulay, Paolo Capino and I discussed the performance and future of Duque.
Is the looming obsolescence of the “durable” Duque evident? Is that political durability about to end?
According to our Palace sources, Duque is no longer as well entrenched in his domain as he was at the start of his second stint.
Our sources say his days may be numbered and that his controversial declaration that the country is already in the “second wave” of local transmission of the COVID 19 virus may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Recent developments tend to validate these information and that the once-durable Duque is clearly no longer in the good graces of Malacanang.
It will be recalled that Duque’s apparent unilateral and “unauthorized” declaration of the coming of the Second Wave was immediately thrashed by three officials working closely with the President at the Palace: Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, and Peace Process Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. who heads the National Task Force on Covid 19.
The three apparently did not merely debunk Duque’s pronouncement – they “vehemently” denied that the country is already on the second wave of Covid 19 local transmission.
The implications of the Palace’s response to Duque’s assertion should alarm Duque’s faithful followers. Here are a few.
First, either Duque is a non-team player and wants to put on a solo show in his own grandstand or the President’s Anti-Covid 19 team does not see him as a vital component of the collaborative effort and may have excluded him from the more important discussions.
The latter may have been the reason why Duque had to announce the “second wave” in media without any prior greenlight from the President’s team or from the President himself.
Second, that Duque could be at the center of a conflict within the President’s anti-Covid 19 team. Is there a “battle” for the plum role of spokesperson for the government’s efforts to address the crisis?
Did Duque feel eased out of that role? Is there real animosity between him and the returning spokesperson Roque?
We noted that Duque has been taken out of that role even within his own department.
The public – particular social media habitués – have clamored for that role to be given permanently to two faces of the DoH: Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire and Special Assistant Dr. Beverly Ho.
Many lauded the sober style of reporting and handling questions by Doctors Vergeire and Ho.
In contrast, they have complained about the alleged hysterical and “political” style of Duque.
It appears the DoH has come to admit the weakness of the Duque style, and which is why the daily public briefing has been taken away from him and given to the two lady doctors.
We believe there will be no public howl if the President finally lets Duque go. Duque is no asset to the President and the current health secretary’s tendency to invite unnecessary controversy is counter-productive. He invites unwarranted public ire.
At this time, President Duterte needs all the help he can get from members of his team who can do two things well: provide relevant and timely information to the public and win public goodwill.
Sadly, the President's own Communications Office headed by Secretary Martin Andanar, miserably failed in these tasks.
Clearly, Andanar’s decades spent as a media practitioner have not given him the expected strategic thinking capabilities to help the President explain his plans, intentions and accomplishments to the public more effectively specially at this time of pandemic.
The millions spent by the DoH for so-called infomercials featuring the voice and face of Duque appear to have been inutile in the bid to make the current secretary a “darling” of the public.
Duque has to finally admit he is no Juan Flavier, another well admired former DOH secretary and will never be.
There is one more urgent reason to end the political durability of Duque. This has to do with the much-anticipated development of a vaccine against the deadly virus.
If recent news regarding the progress of this effort are to be believed, a vaccine -whether from China or one of the US or Europe-based pharmaceutical laboratories – may be available by January next year.
If that happens the government will prepare to make purchases of that vaccine. The appropriation for those purchases would be staggering.
The amount may yet be the biggest ever spent by any administration in the Philippines to buy a vaccine.
Unless the President creates a special body to handle that particular procurement, that money will fall into the hands of Duque’s department.
A solon has already earlier raised questions about Duque’s alleged conflict of interest in connection with the pharmaceutical business of a member or members of his family.
This may be raised again once taxpayers’ money is handed over the DoH to buy that vaccine.
It would be good for the President to have another official to handle that huge purchase. We cannot afford that purchase to be hounded by controversy.
We have had enough of Duque. He has proven his durability. It is time we have someone who has the public interest in mind.
