MANILA, Philippines – Ferdinand Marcos Jr. finally chose his Department of Health secretary almost a year into his term.
According to a press release from Malacañang, Herbosa also has tucked under his belt an international diploma course in emergency and crisis management from the University of Geneva. He took further postgraduate studies in medicine at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel.Herbosa served as a health undersecretary from 2010 to 2015, under the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III.
As early as March 2021, Herbosa already said that the Philippine government had done a “fairly good job” in managing the public health crisis. He also defended former president Duterte and former health secretary Francisco Duque III, who were often criticized over their pandemic response.In 2020, Herbosa issued a public apology and agreed to undergo gender sensitivity training after sharing aIn April 2021, Herbosa drew criticism from internet users for a “death by community pantry” tweet.