President Duterte to Fr. Austriaco: “I would be happy to appoint you as the Secretary of Health if that is okay with you.”
On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte offered molecular biologist Father Nicanor Austriaco to take over the Department of Health (DOH) after hearing him talk about the Omicron variant.
A University of Santo Tomas (UST) researcher who was currently in the United States, Austriaco was a guest resource person during President Duterte’s pre-recorded “Talk to the People” public address on Monday evening.
After Austriaco made his presentation about the Omicron variant, the President thanked him for assuring the Filipino people that the new COVID-19 strain was “not that scary” as people thought.
The President even encouraged Austriaco to permanently stay in the Philippines after learning that the latter had been going back and forth to the country and the US every six months.
“Kami, mas gusto namin nandito ka na lang,” President Duterte told Austriaco. “We will expect a change of schedule, next year maybe. Salamat at maraming salamat sa ‘yo Father Austriaco. You have been a great help to us. God bless you. But think about it, stay longer here.”
READ ALSO | Duque on Omicron’s Entry in PH: “Not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when”
President Duterte even said that he would happily appoint the UST researcher as the new DOH secretary to replace Francisco Duque III who was also present during the said meeting, making other attendees laugh.
According to Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Austriaco had been helping the government’s pandemic task force in addressing the pandemic and had been meeting with them every Monday.
“I would be happy to appoint you as the Secretary of Health if that is okay with you,” President Duterte told Austriaco. “He (Duque) even desires really to rest after all this ruckus against him. I’ve been forcing him to stay but he would be happy to give way to you, I’m sure.”
Duque then chimed in and said that he would be happy to turn the post over to a “fellow Thomasian”. However, Austriaco rejected the offer and said that Duque was “doing a fine job”.
For more news and updates, you may feel free to visit this site more often. You may also visit Newspapers.ph via our official Facebook page and YouTube channel.
