Kean Cipriano, vocalist of pop-rock band Callalily, and comedian and vlogger Ogie Diaz slammed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for his statement on Philippine’s preparedness for the newly reported COVID-19 strain.
They said that the health secretary is incompetent and want him to step down from his position.
On December 26, during the meeting on the government’s plan for the new COVID-19 strain, Duque mentioned that the country is not defenseless towards the new strain. He said that upon the entrance of the virus in the Philippines, the country will be prepared as the government had already prepared specific systems and policies for the virus.
“We are not defenseless. Hindi naman parang wala tayong laban kahit makapasok po ‘yan, hopefully hindi makapasok pero kung makakapasok naman po, please be assured that the mechanisms, the systems, the policies are already all in place,” he said.
Duque added saying that “It’s not a question kung darating dito it is going to perhaps really reach the shores, but it’s a question of when. But, again, all of the systems are in place, so we hope that we can manage this.”
According to an article by Inquirer, the new SARS-CoV-2 strain was first detected in the United Kingdom (UK) and has already arrived in other countries such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson placed London and southeast England on lockdown after scientists found a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus. He said that the virus “may be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the earlier strain.”
Kean Cipriano took to social media to express his frustrations with Duque as he claimed that the health secretary is incompetent and can’t be trusted to handle the new virus strain situation which involves all the lives of the Filipinos.
“Sec. Duque is too incompetent to be trusted with such an important responsibility at a very delicate situation,” he said.
He also said that Duque should resign and be replaced by someone “who truly cares for the nation.”
Sec. Duque is too incompetent to be trusted with such an important responsibility at a very delicate situation.
Please resign. Give the position to someone who truly cares for the nation.
Filipino lives are on the line.
Please step down.
— Kean Cipriano (@keancipriano) December 27, 2020
Ogie Diaz also wanted Duque to step down from his position. He shared a post on Twitter that showed the health secretary’s statement on the country’s preparedness for the new strain of the virus.
Ogie said that Duque should not continue to stay in his position and should be replaced by a more knowledgeable person.
Juice ko, mas ok kung hindi ka na kapit-tuko sa pwesto. Bigay na yan sa ibang mas may alam. Please. https://t.co/b3a2ux8Qwt
— ogie diaz (@ogiediaz) December 26, 2020
“Mas ok kung hindi ka na kapit-tuko sa pwesto. Bigay na yan sa ibang mas may alam. Please,” he wrote on Twitter.
Some netizens have also mentioned that Duque is irresponsible and therefore should be replaced by a more competent politician. People recalled Duque’s previous statement during the early stages of COVID-19 in the country where he also said that the Philippines is ready for the virus.
Duque said that the government focused its efforts on strengthening the capacities of health facilities nationwide in an attempt to minimize the spread of the virus.
“So doon na lang…level ng gamutan, doon na lang dapat ibuhos ang dapat ang lahat ng dapat isagawa ng DOH (So on the level of treatment, that’s where the DOH should focus its efforts),” Duque said.
However, as of this writing, the Philippines has recorded about 400 thousand Coronavirus cases coming 2nd to Indonesia for having the highest Covid cases in all of the South East Asian countries according to CSIS (Center for Strategic & International Studies). The Philippines also has the highest mortality rate in Southeast Asia as of November 2020.
