DOH chief will be back – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang denied persistent speculations yesterday that Health Secretary Enrique Ona was fired by President Aquino, saying the Department of Health chief was just on a one-month leave and will be back on Nov. 28.

“Secretary Ona’s leave is from Oct. 28 to Nov. 27. So that is his leave period. Nov. 28 is a Friday. So in effect his leave is one month,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters in an informal briefing.

He said Ona would just be attending to some personal matters regarding his health. Health Undersecretary Janette Garin will be temporarily taking over Ona’s place as officer-in-charge.

“Insofar as Secretary Ike Ona is concerned, we were informed that it was only for health reasons. So let’s not put any color to it,” he said.

Despite the global threat of the Ebola virus, he said Ona’s presence is not really necessary.

“It will not be crippled or hampered by the absence of the head of agency. The work on Ebola is a multi-agency task force,” Lacierda said.

He said that Ona still enjoys the trust and confidence of Aquino.

“The bottom line is: Is the President satisfied with the performance of each Cabinet member? And there has been no reason for us to say otherwise,” Lacierda added.

He credits the expanded and universal coverage of PhilHealth and increased vaccinations as Ona’s achievements, which were all successfully instituted during his watch.