DOH Secretary Duque said that he had no problem with resigning but …
DOH SECRETARY DUQUE — On Thursday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that he had no problem with resigning from his post as DOH chief, but he claimed that he’s requested not to.
In an interview on GMA News TV’s Balitanghali, Duque said that he had no problem with resigning and President Rodrigo Duterte knew that he had resigned several times but he was asked not to step down from his post as health secretary.
“Wala namang problema ‘yung pagre-resign. Alam naman ni President [Rodrigo] Duterte, ilang beses na ‘ko nagre-resign ‘yun nga lang pinapakiusapan ako na ‘wag akong bibitiw,” said Duque.
Duque’s statement came after the President said in his weekly public address aired last Monday night that he will reject Duque’s resignation should Duque decided to step down amidst the release of an audit report on the Department of Health’s spending of its pandemic budget last year.
READ ALSO | President Duterte to Duque: “Alam ko na gusto mo nang mag-resign pero …”
The Commission on Audit (COA) found “deficiencies” amounting to more than PHP 67 billion in DOH’s COVID-19 pandemic response funds in 2020, prompting investigations in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. COA’s audit report triggered broad reactions from both the administration and the public.
On the COA audit report, Duque noted the Commission’s clarification that its finding didn’t indicate that funds were lost to corruption.
The Commission on Audit regularly posted its observations and reports on its official website as part of its mandate in order to promote transparency and curb corruption in government.
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