Herbosa confirms exit of DOH spox during COVID-19 pandemic
Metro Manila, Philippines - Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire is among the officials who recently left the Department of Health (DOH), the agency’s secretary has confirmed.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa confirmed that Vergeire, as well as Health Undersecretaries Achilles Gerard Bravo and Kenneth Ronquillo, have exited the DOH.
“It is confirmed, but you’ll have to interview them, ask them why,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the post-SONA discussion event on Tuesday, July 29.
Their names are currently not reflected in the executive committee on the agency’s website.
Vergeire had different posts including the head of Universal Health Care Services Cluster for Northern and Central Luzon and the Special Concerns Cluster. Bravo led Internal Management Cluster, while Ronquillo the Universal Health Care-Policy and Strategy Cluster
All three of them are Career Executive Service Officers (CESOs). They are considered "permanent employees" and guaranteed with security of tenure. CESOs may only be separated from the services "for cause, after due process or voluntary resignation, or dropping from the rolls," according to the CES Board.
Asked regarding the reason for their exit, Herbosa said: “I think two of them, age of retirement na sila [they were already at the age of retirement].”
Asked specifically for Vergeire’s reason, Herbosa only said: “You’ll have to ask her.”
“Decisions of Execom members leading to their separation from the service (e.g., retirement, resignation, etc.) are personal in nature and treated with the utmost respect as to privacy,” Health spokesperson Albert Domingo told reporters in a Viber message earlier in the day.
NewsWatch Plus has reached out to Vergeire.
Vergeire served as the health spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic, which happened under the Duterte administration.
Under the Marcos administration, Vergeire was Health officer-in-charge for almost a year before Herbosa’s appointment as secretary in June 2023.
