Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday criticized the Department of Health (DOH) over alleged delays in the procurement of flu vaccines, calling on Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to resign amid concerns over the possible impact on senior citizens and public health services.

Speaking during a press conference on May 13, Cayetano said public health issues should take priority over politics, stressing that inflation, medicine access, and vaccine shortages affect all Filipinos regardless of political affiliation.

“When people cannot buy medicine, the Department of Health should probably focus on doing its job first. Secretary Herbosa should resign. He promised during the budget hearing that there would no longer be delays,” Cayetano said.

The Senate leader compared the DOH’s procurement delays with the efforts of the City Government of Taguig, which he said had already secured flu vaccines and vaccinated more than 100,000 senior citizens.

“The City of Taguig was able to buy flu vaccines. We are already vaccinating more than a hundred thousand of our senior citizens. Why is the DOH delayed again?” he said.

Cayetano also questioned the timing of the government’s vaccine acquisition process, warning that delays could leave vulnerable sectors exposed during flu season.

“Can you really tell a senior citizen who got the flu, then developed pneumonia and died: ‘Sorry, because we failed in the bidding process’?” he added.

The Senate President emphasized that issues such as rising inflation, healthcare access, and vaccine availability should be treated as urgent national concerns rather than political disputes.