MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is not keeping Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to play the role of a “scapegoat” for the government’s lapses in addressing the COVID-19 crisis, Malacañang said Wednesday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement in response to opposition Senator Leila de Lima who earlier claimed that Duque — repeatedly criticized for his handling of the pandemic — has not been fired from his post because the President needs a “whipping boy” in this crisis. ADVERTISEMENT“I read the same papers and I watch the same news as Senator Leila De Lima, I can tell you, the President has not been treating Secretary Duque as a whipping boy,” Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines. But it has never been the case that I think the President has ever used him as whipping boy, he’s always been supportive of Secretary Duque. In May, Duque was condemned for announcing that the Philippines was already experiencing its second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 22, 2020 04:41 UTC