MANILA, Philippines — As head of the high-level team tasked to address the 2019 novel coronavirus menace, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reports directly to President Duterte and is unlikely to cave in to calls for his resignation supposedly for not acting fast enough to stop the spread of the contagion.

Secretary to the Cabinet Karlo Nograles yesterday raised the observation in an interview with “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News as he parried criticisms that the President had acted rather slowly in ordering a ban on travelers from China, where the nCoV originated.

“I don’t think that is a fair assessment in the terms on whether or not he was inclined (to order the travel ban). There was just a step-by-step procedure and a step-by-step protocol being followed,” Nograles said.

He said the recommendation came straight from the health secretary. Initially, Duterte imposed a ban only on travelers coming from Hubei province, whose capital is Wuhan City, the so-called epicenter of nCoV.

“At this point, it doesn’t have to pass through the Cabinet anymore. It’s a communication now between Sec. Duque and the President himself,” he said.

Duterte, he said, “acted promptly” on an earlier recommendation to impose the ban only on travellers coming from Hubei. The ban later extended to the entire China, including its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.

“There is always that constant monitoring, we go through that process between the President and the secretary of health,” Nograles added.

Nograles made the statement after some senators lashed out at Duque for his lack of “unity of command” in the high level inter-agency task force tackling the nCoV.

Despite the issues, Malacañang said Duque still enjoys the trust and confidence of Duterte.

He stressed the secretary should be allowed to do his job amid calls for his resignation.

“I don’t think that is proper thing to do right now given the circumstances, given the efforts that are being poured into this. Like I said, Sec. Duque with all the circumstances, with the situation, he’s hands-on with everything,” Nograles said. – With Christina Mendez