Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 5) — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Southern Philippines Medical Center Director Leopoldo Vega as a Health Undersecretary, his spokesman confirmed on Friday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed the news to CNN Philippines in a phone call.
The Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao holds one of the country’s subnational laboratories that test for COVID-19.
This development comes after Duterte threatened to sack Department of Health officials over their failure to provide financial benefits to healthcare workers severely infected with COVID-19 and families of medical frontliners who died from the disease.
The President had instructed Health Secretary Francisco Duque to form a new team within 24 hours to oversee faster distribution of aid.
