RETIRED police general Camilo Cascolan has been appointed by President Marcos Jr. as one of the undersecretaries of the Department of Health (DOH).
The confirmation was issued yesterday by the DOH amid criticisms aired on social media on the appointment of Cascolan, who served as chief of the Philippine National Police chief from September to November 2020.
Cascolan joins undersecretaries Lilibeth David, Carolina Vidal-Taiño, Abdullah Dumama, Kenneth Ronquillo, Nestor Santiago, and Maria Francia Laxamana.
Also confirmed by the DOH was the reappointment of Charade Mercado-Grande as assistant secretary. The other assistant secretaries are Beverly Ho, Maylene Beltran, and Frances Ontalan.
Named Director IV were Maria Lourdes Caballero Santiago and Girlie Veloso, and Maria Joyce Ducusin and Sophia Mancao as Director III.
“We will make available the assignments of our Executive Committee members to you as soon as available,” said the DOH.
In a statement, the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) denounced Cascolan’s appointment, which is said is a clear manifestation of Marcos’ lack of concern for the lives, health, safety, and welfare of the health workers and the Filipinos in general.
“Cascolan’s appointment is a huge insult to our health experts, who are most qualified to administer and run the affairs of the DOH,” said AHW.
Add to this, it said, is that Cascolan is known to be one of the brains behind the controversial “Oplan Tokhang” of the Duterte administration.
“Health workers want to work with a health undersecretary, who is an expert in eradicating deadly and infectious diseases, not an expert in violating human rights and extrajudicial killings,” said AHW.
The group reiterated a call for President Marcos Jr to appoint a health secretary now.
It said the DOH chief should be determined to protect and defend the health workers against discrimination, intimidation and violence, including cases of red-tagging and killings; one who values the justness of the health workers call for salary increase, better benefits, and humane working conditions; and one who will prioritize people’s health “more than anything.”
Since Marcos assumed the presidency back on June 30, the DOH has been under an officer-in-charge — Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
NOT A PRIORITY
Before the DOH confirmed the appointments, a militant lawmaker assailed Marcos Jr. for not having appointed a health secretary, saying it “shows that the health of the nation is not a priority of the Marcos administration.”
“President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. statement that we would appoint a health secretary only if the situation in the country normalizes is baligtad (upside down),” said Rep. France Castro.
Castro said the problems of the health sector cannot be fully addressed by a mere officer-in-charge “because they have limited powers and their initiatives can be overturned when an appointed secretary steps in.”
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire is now as the Department of Health’s OIC.
Castro, a member of the Makabayan bloc, said “the country needs a full-fledged health secretary now to address the still ongoing pandemic even as the president wants to further open up the economy.”
“A balance must be struck in protecting our health but at the same time jump starting the economy. Consequently, appointing a trustworthy and competent health secretary is the first step to achieve that balance,” said the House deputy minority leader.
The President said last Thursday that he would appoint a health secretary only once the country’s situation returns to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The reason is I want people to understand that this is the government’s work, not everything is a crisis, so i-normalize natin ang trabaho ng gobyerno (let’s normalize government work),” said Marcos who has extended the state of calamity in the whole country until December 31.
The President’s statement came in light of the detection and confirmed local transmission of the XBB Omicron subvariant and XBC variant in the Philippines.
XBB is reportedly “highly immune-evasive” as people with antibodies against COVID-19 could still acquire it. It is also said that XBB, a recombinant of BJ.1 (BA.2.10.1 sublineage) and BM.1.1.1 (BA.2.75 sublineage), is causing the case surge in Singapore.
Castro said the situation warrants the appointment of a health secretary at the soonest, especially since cholera and dengue cases in the country are also high.
Castro said many health workers also have yet to receive their benefits while the health sector has suffered from huge budget cuts under the proposed national budget for 2023.
Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte called for the lifting of stringent travel curbs such as the mandatory booster shots and COVID-19 testing for international visitors to multiply tourist arrivals and let tourism fulfill its potential.
He said the President, himself, envisions the tourism sector to be a “high driver” of the country’s economic transformation in the aftermath of the nearly three-year pandemic.
“Rather than just playing catch-up to its Asian peers whose respective tourism industries have already started on strong-recovery mode, the Philippines, with its far better tourist attractions than those of its neighbors, could actually overtake its direct competitors in the region by doing away with its stringent travel curbs that have impelled most tourists to instead visit–and spend their money in–countries that have relaxed, if not jettisoned altogether, their COVID-related health and border entry protocols,” he said.
Villafuerte said a quick economic recovery “will probably remain elusive for so long as the Philippines is stuck on the list of countries with tough entry restrictions for travelers.” — With Wendell Vigilia
