FILE PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday changes his tone on Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s resignation if he did it “voluntarily.”

Duterte said he would not fire Duque because “there is no corruption, there is no loss of funds” and “whatever be the environment of the time, you have to observe fairness.”

“Now ngayon, kung si Duque will offer to resign voluntarily, tatanggapin ko,” the President said in a meeting with the health secretary and other officials.

“Pero kung sabihin mo ako ang magsabi sa kanya ‘mag-resign ka,’ that will never happen, that will never happen,” he added.

The Department of Health (DOH) headed by Duque is facing inquiry after the Commission on Audit said some P67 billion in various “deficiencies” led to “missed opportunities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, Duterte  remark, in which he said he would reject any attempt at resignation from Duque.

On Friday, the President also said he won’t fire Duque III “even if it will bring me down.”

The President previously rejected calls for the firing of the Health chief over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the P15-billion corruption allegation against medical state insurer PhilHealth, whose board is chaired by Duque.