Health Sec. Francisco Duque is trending on social media, with netizens telling him to stop being a 'sadboi' as state auditors were just doing their job when they flagged "deficiencies" in his department's P67 billion budget.
As of Wednesday morning, "Duque" was among Twitter trends with more than 30,000 tweets. Some called him out for pulling the mental health card when he said the Commission on Audit report was giving him sleepless nights.
"Mula noong Wednesday na lumabas po ito, hindi na po ako nakakatulog. Ang mga kasama kong mga opisyal sa DOH, hindi na rin halos nakakatulog. Bakit, 'ka ninyo? Sa kahihiyan. We were bloodied and bludgeoned with this issue. Kung ganito nang ganito tayo, paano tayo uunlad?" Duque told lawmakers Tuesday.
"Winarat na ninyo kami eh. Winarat na ninyo ang dangal ng DOH. Winarat ninyo ang lahat ng mga kasama ko dito. Hindi kami makaharap sa mga tao dahil lahat, ang dami-daming sinasabi, ang dami-daming paratang."
The COA Chairperson, Michael Aguinaldo refuted Duque's allegation that the health department was not given due process, adding state auditors gave the DOH ample time to reply.
"Duque being a manipulative sadboi without knowing how a proper audit works lmao," one Twitter post read.
"It's as if DOH had no idea that the COA audit report would be coming out when in fact, COA conducts an exit conference with agencies before they publish the report," another said.
Sen. Richard Gordon said that while he understood why Duque turned emotional, the secretly could have said that he would answer all allegations instead.
“If he (Duque) had said that in a very dignified manner, then I think there would be less flak but you know he is very emotional and I can understand where he’s coming from,” Gordon told ANC on Wednesday.
Sorsogon Gov. Chiz Escudero pointed out how Duque resorted to crying instead of answering COA's findings.
"Magnanakaw lang ang galit sa COA," said Sen. Leila de Lima, a vocal administration critic.
Sen. Miguel Zubiri reminded Duque that COA was only doing its constitutional mandate to check if there is mismanagement in fund spending, essential in deterring corruption. Let's not be too sensitive, he said.
"I'm sure he's under a lot of pressure, he said hindi na siya nakakatulog. Unfortunately 'yung health care workers ilang buwan na hindi natutulog," he told CNN Philippines on Wednesday.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
