Reset window closing fast
Appointed to head the Department of Health (DOH) on June 5, 2023, Dr. Teodoro Herbosa served a little over three years in the position before resigning on Monday, July 13. He said he decided to leave following a bilateral knee replacement surgery that would require months of rehabilitation, which would prevent him from giving the agency his full attention. Malacañang said President Marcos accepted Herbosa’s resignation, and promptly announced the appointment of veteran orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jose “Brix” Pujalte Jr. as the country’s new health secretary.
Herbosa’s departure represents an opportunity for a fresh start in the health sector. Despite his relatively short tenure, Herbosa’s stint was defined by multiple controversies, as he was slapped with a series of complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by groups identifying themselves as concerned DOH personnel.
Herbosa was accused, among others, of alleged conflict of interest involving a pharmaceutical contractor, procurement-related decisions within the department, and the procurement and allocation of P44.6 million worth of mental health medicines that went to a private organization.
Scandal-wracked
There was also an alleged state-funded business-class trip to Switzerland, and further conflict-of-interest questions over his role and those of a number of DOH officials who served as radio program hosts in a media outfit that received a P98-million advertising placement contract.
Herbosa and other health officials are also facing complaints over alleged irregularities in the procurement of P1.8 billion worth of mobile primary care facilities, the handling of P1.5 billion worth of expired medicines and vaccines, and a P1.29-billion unliquidated cash transfer to the United Nations Children’s Fund for vaccines and essential medicines.
The 37,000-strong civic group Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) had long called for Herbosa’s resignation, arguing that these controversies were undermining not only his leadership but also confidence in the broader health sector. The DOH has been barely out of the woods since the severe shocks it endured during the COVID-19 pandemic and the equally tumultuous, scandal-wracked administration of Herbosa’s predecessor, Francisco Duque III. Thus, for AHW, Herbosa’s departure “should have come much earlier, as his tenure has failed to bring meaningful improvements to the conditions of health workers and the country’s public healthcare system.”
Breathing space
Pujalte had been previously considered to head the DOH in 2022, when the Philippine Orthopedic Association, of which he is a fellow, formally endorsed him for the position. But the job eventually went to Herbosa, and now Pujalte has the daunting task of cleaning up the tangle Herbosa has left behind. The challenge for Pujalte, according to AHW, is “to lead with transparency, accountability, and genuine public service, and to stand with health workers and patients in building a healthcare system that protects lives, upholds dignity, and puts the welfare of the Filipino people above all else.”
Herbosa’s exit allows breathing space for the DOH to reboot itself and become, at the very least, a healthy, stable department able to discharge its task as the primary caretaker of the country’s health and well-being. Beyond the DOH, recent changes in the Cabinet also present an opportunity for the administration to strengthen its performance and sharpen its focus on the country’s most pressing needs.
Ultimate judgment
Former Interior and Local Government chief Benjamin Abalos Jr. was appointed Cabinet secretary on July 8. Marcos revived the Malacañang office of Cabinet Secretary specifically to bring Abalos, his campaign manager who ran and lost in the 2025 senatorial race, back into government service. His job, according to the Palace, is to help coordinate the work of the Cabinet, facilitate discussions on key government policies and programs, and strengthen coordination among executive departments in support of the President’s priorities.
Short of a Cabinet revamp, the addition of fresh voices into the President’s inner circle of advisers must result in a government that is able to come up with new and effective ways to tackle the problems that continue to bedevil the ordinary Filipino, from inflation and the rising cost of basic goods, to systemic graft and corruption, widespread poverty, the lack of quality job opportunities, yawning education gaps, and climate vulnerabilities.
With Marcos set to deliver his penultimate State of the Nation Address on July 27, 2026, the window is closing fast on his administration’s ability to recalibrate and fine-tune things in the last two years of his administration. Every department in his Cabinet needs to work double time to step up and provide measurably improved governance from now until May 2028, when the Marcos restoration and its record face their ultimate judgment from the Filipino electorate.
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