By Tracy Cabrera
MALACAÑAN, Manila — Palace press officer and Presidential Communication Office (PCO) undersecretary Clarissa ‘Claire’ Castro-Seechung has confirmed the resignation of health secretary Teodoro ‘Ted’ Herbosa, who will be replaced by Dr. Jose Britannio Pujalte Jr. of the Philippine Orthopedic Center.
According to reports, Herbosa initially filed a sick leave but he eventually submitted his courtesy resignation to President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. early today due to health reasons following a knee replacement surgery.
Herbosa had served under the Marcos administration for over three years but his leadership tenure had been riddled with alleged controversies regarding irregularities within the Department of Health (DoH), among them his favoring of certain pharmaceutical firms and a number of rigged bidding in the procurement of medicines and other supplies.
Another issue that has arisen is the long delay of the construction of the new building for the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), which will house modern equipment and upgraded rooms and surgery facilities for the hospital’s growing number of patients.
Sources said that the modernization of the LCP had been delayed because of some people allegedly close to Herbosa who had been offering the project in exchange of certain ‘requiremenrs’, primarily an SOP, or standard operating procedure, amounting to P2.5 billion.
They only identified the said project negotiators as a certain Louella and Rommel, who is reportedly an influential political operator in the past and present administrations.
Besides this, DoH insiders likewise revealed that on top of the SOP, contractors who want to be included in the bidding process will also have to give an upfront payment of P30 million to the two influence peddlers.
ia/xf
