Duque as hero? Lacson says ‘hilo’

MANILA, Philippines — Senators disputed yesterday President Duterte’s assertion that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was the “hero” of the country’s COVID-19 response.

“That’s his (Duterte) opinion, to me, the frontliners are the heroes,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III told reporters.

Duque has been the subject of more than a few Senate investigations into controversies and corruption at the Department of Health and Philippine Health Insurance Corp., and senators have also found him to be responsible for the spotty response to the pandemic and the sluggish rollout of vaccinations.

Sen. Grace Poe said the “real COVID-19 pandemic heroes are courageous workers risking their own lives for others.”

“With their hard work and resilience, we see people volunteering to make up for the inadequacies to the virus response,” Poe said.

“Even as we all have been humbled by this health crisis, let us not deny our frontliners the recognition that rightfully belongs to them,” she said.

She said the way the government can give back to frontliners and other workers is through efficient governance and social services that will trickle down to all, especially the vulnerable.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Duterte must not forget the others who contributed to the government’s response to the pandemic, including vaccine czar Carlito Galvez and National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief Vince Dizon.

“This is a team effort. No one man can arrest a pandemic of this magnitude,” Gatchalian said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said it is only Duterte and other administration officials who believe that Duque’s performance was excellent.

“What he (Duterte) meant was ‘hilo’ (scatterbrain),” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Twitter.