On Monday, May 3, President Rodrigo Duterte hailed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III as a “hero” but many opposed such declaration.
Duterte, in his public address, claimed that the Philippines are faring better against Covid-19, thanks to Duque.
“It’s not really the time to make comparisons, but we’re doing good in the fight against COVID. And Sec. Duque is the hero there,” the President said.
Many opposed the statement of Duterte, including medical professionals.
Dr. Raymond Oliva and a colleague scrutinized Duterte, pointing that the president has a low standard when it comes to calling Duque a hero.
Kung hero na sya, ano na tawag sa mga PGH residents namin who has been on the ground for more than a year now taking care of covid patients? Masyado naman ambaba ng criteria. https://t.co/Q3UyVkcMvb
— RAYMOND OLIVA (@drrayms) May 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/PTRPMD/status/1389395323911426052
Early in the pandemic, Duque rejected the idea of banning flights from China as it may affect the diplomatic relation of the country with the Philippines.
“Certainly that’s one of the possible options that we are looking at, but not at this very moment. The reason being, your honor, is we have to be very careful also of possible repercussions of doing this, in light of the fact that confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus are not limited to China,” said Duque.
As a result, Dr. Renz Victor could not believe the statement of Duterte, that the Health Secretary is responsible for the country’s pandemic response.
https://twitter.com/gg_renz/status/1389522459469156353
Another medical professional, Dr. Gene Nisperos concluded that the country is in trouble after Duterte has considered the “worst Health Secretary ever” as a hero.
You know we are in REALLY DEEP SH*T when the President considers the WORST HEALTH SECRETARY EVER as a hero.#DuqueResign #DuqueOut#DutertePalpak #OUST https://t.co/q6hTXgbUNO
— doc gene (@genenisperos) May 4, 2021
Twitter personality Wilbert Sy blamed Duque for letting the Philippines’ Covid-19 situation worsen. He then stressed that Duque let Filipinos die after rejecting the call for a travel ban. But with Duque calling the shots, Sy also took a swipe at Duterte as he is also accountable for the country’s pandemic crisis.
https://twitter.com/ProfessorUno/status/1389392968725897218
Another Twitter personality lambasted Duterte for not knowing what is happening on the ground after calling Duque a hero.
Luh. Kinukulong nyo ba si Duterte sa kulambo at parang deadma at walang alam sa nangyayari ha!!!
There’s NOTHING GOOD sa kapalpakan nyo Duterte!
Even if you repeat it 1M times (kasing dami ng mga #COVID19 cases natin), IT WILL NOT COME TRUE!#DutertePalpak
— MrsHan (@MoxieLi) May 4, 2021
Referring to the Department of Health’s “Bida Bastonero/Bastonera” campaign, Pharmacist Emjay Gaynilo ridiculed Duque for using a meter stick to remind the public to maintain social distancing. With the method used by the Health Secretary, Gaynilo wanted a meter stick to be also called a “hero”.
https://twitter.com/emjgaynilo/status/1389345543936045057
A Twitter personality was furious about Duterte not because of him calling Duque a hero. It was actually about the commander-in-chief’s plan in “taking care” of his people. She stressed that the billions of loans that the Government procured for the country’s pandemic response, only led to the public resorting to community pantries.
Furthermore, the personality concluded that the pantries proved how “substandard” the support of the Duterte Administration towards its citizens.
https://twitter.com/ToniSpeakEasy/status/1389503792199000068
The Philippines as of this moment has logged a total of 1,062,225 COVID-19 cases, with 975,234 recoveries and 17,525 fatalities. Meanwhile, the active cases are at 69,466, or 6.5 percent of the cumulative total.
