Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday defended himself from accusations that he failed to oversee PhilHealth and clarifies that command responsibility of the agency did not rest in him, but rather its president and CEO.
He made the statement following the recommendation of Senate panel to file charges against him.
Duque, who is chairman of the PhilHealth board, said he did not have voting power over decisions for the agency. The PhilHealth board is also a collegial body, which means that decisions come from all 13 of its members, he said.
“Misplaced ‘yung application ng command responsibility sa chairman,” Duque said.
“‘Yung imputation ng command responsibility is rather misplaced. Hindi po tama. Ang command responsibility nasa President and CEO.”
Duque also said he also had “no problem” with leaving his post if an inter-agency task force found him liable for command responsibility in the irregular release of PhilHealth’s COVID-19 funds.
