Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on media queries re report that President Duterte is now scouting for Duque's replacement as health secretary

We hope the report is true. Our experience has been is that we don't know the real score, given that Malacañan habitually says one thing first and then says the opposite in another breath. If true, then I'd say it's better late than never because from the first week of February, or about four months ago, at the Senate health committee hearing, I already mentioned failure of leadership at the DoH and we've already seen how the DoH leadership chose to overlook the entry of Chinese nationals. No contact tracing, no adequate equipment for the medical front-liners, no systematic preparation. And controversial pro-China decisions.

The result is we have the highest fatality rate and the lowest recovery rate in ASEAN.

We hope that the replacement will be someone with integrity who has not been tainted with corruption or overpricing of health programs, who puts the health and safety of the Filipino people as a priority amidst the pandemic.

Our people are already hungry and jobless, to be victimized by corruption further would be unendurable.