Will party-list lawmaker be named DOH chief?

MANILA, Philippines — Malasakit@Bayanihan party-list Rep. Antonio Rolando Golez Jr. is being eyed by President Marcos to lead the Department of Health, which is still battling the COVID pandemic and other health concerns of Filipinos, according to sources from the House of Representatives and DOH.

“Word is circulating that Doctor Golez will be the next secretary of DOH. We just don’t know when the President will make the announcement,” a source said.

Golez is not new to the DOH as he served as executive assistant of former secretary Manuel Dayrit in 2002, taking an active role in combatting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

He eventually occupied various positions as medical specialist at the department.

At the House, Golez is vice chair of the committees on health and disaster resilience and member of the committees on accounts, appropriations, energy, interparliamentary relations and diplomacy, legislative franchises, national defense and security, nuclear energy and trade and industry.

Based on the website of Golez’s party-list, he was a campaign leader of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte in last year’s election while campaigning for the group as its representative.

There are two other doctors whose names surfaced as the possible next DOH secretary. They are cardiologist and internist Willie Ong and ophthalmologist Minguita Padilla.

Ong ran for vice president in tandem with presidential aspirant and former Manila mayor Isko Moreno while Padilla sought a senatorial seat under the ticket of former senator Ping Lacson. And just like Golez, Ong and Padilla are also not new to DOH.

Padilla was a consultant of former DOH secretary Enrique Ona and health executive staff of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. during the time of former DOH secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin.

Founder of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines, Padilla is an advocate of organ donation, particularly corneal donation and transplantation.

Ong also worked as a consultant of Ona from 2010 to 2014. He has a huge following on Facebook and YouTube, giving tips and addressing the health concerns of his audience.

Involved in various charitable advocacies, Ong created the Co Tec Tai Medical Museum in Pasay City, the first medical museum in the Philippines. The goal of the museum is to inspire Filipinos to become health workers and to preserve the country’s medical history.

Currently, the DOH is being led by OIC Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire after former secretary Francisco Duque stepped down at the end of the Duterte administration. source said.

Golez is not new to the DOH as he served as executive assistant of former secretary Manuel Dayrit in 2002, taking an active role in combatting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

He eventually occupied various positions as medical specialist at the department.