Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Vergiere

Raphael Bosano

ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) — At least three officials of the Department of Health are no longer with the agency, according  to Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.The three officials are members of the executive committee; former Undersecretaries Maria Rosario Vergeire, Kenneth Ronquillo and Achilles Gerard Bravo. The names of the three officials can no longer be found in the DOH website’s organization page.Ronquillo was undersecretary for the Universal Health Care (UHC) policy and strategy cluster while Bravo was undersecretary of the internal management cluster. Vergeire, for her part leads the UHC Health Services cluster for Northern and Central Luzon.In a document secured by ABS-CBN News, Herbosa was informed that the tenure of Vergeire “has expired, effective immediately.”“This is confirmed. But you’ll have to interview them on this matter,” Herbosa told the media at the sidelines of a Post SONA briefing on Tuesday.Without identifying a particular official, the health chief said that two of the officials are already “beyond the age of retirement”.  He also asked the media to pose other questions to the former officials.Asked on whether Vergeire was asked to resign, Herbosa said that he didn’t know.Last week, Vergeire was invited as the commencement speaker at the Far Eastern University. In a quote card, she was referred to as a former undersecretary of the DOH.DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo, in a separate statement, also did not specify the reason behind the exit of their officials.“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,” the statement read.Vergeire was an instrumental figure in the DOH and government’s fight against COVID-19, offering a calm, collected and science-based approach to communicating the health crisis. Prior to her role in the DOH, she also served as the city health officer of Marikina City.In the first year of the Marcos Jr. administration, Vergeire held the DOH’s fort as officer-in-charge and nixed calls for her to become secretary. Her tone changed several months later and said she was ready to lead the agency. This, however, was followed by the appointment of Herbosa as the health chief.<div> </div><div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/live?/aVMMUBTz8-w?si=iYZP4FBIfR1CVu7Q&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

In a document secured by ABS-CBN News, Herbosa was informed that the tenure of Vergeire “has expired, effective immediately.”

In a document secured by ABS-CBN News, Herbosa was informed that the tenure of Vergeire “has expired, effective immediately.”

Herbosa confirms Vergeire, 2 others no longer with DOH

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Herbosa confirms Vergeire, 2 others no longer with DOH

Raphael Bosano,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 29, 2025 07:11 PM PHT

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Updated July 30, 2025 08:18 AM PHT

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