The DOH said Cascolan will take over the position of Roger Tong-an. It said lawyer Charade Mercado-Grande was also appointed as assistant secretary.
Cascolan served as an undersecretary under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
He was the PNP’s top cop from September to November 2020.
Cascolan is among the brains behind the national police agency’s Oplan Double Barrel amid the campaign against illegal drugs.
The operational plan involves the highly criticized Oplan Tokhang aimed at encouraging the surrender of individuals involved in the illegal drugs trade.
In a statement, the Alliance of Health Workers denounced Marcos over Cascolan’s appointment.
They expressed concern over Cascolan’s track record.
“AHW believes that PBBM’s appointment of Cascolan is a clear manifestation of the President’s extreme lack of concern for the lives, health, safety and welfare of the health workers and the entire Filipino nation. Cascolan’s appointment is a huge insult to our health experts who are most qualified to administer and run the affairs of the DOH,” the group said.
“Health workers prefer an undersecretary who has a clean track record, not a red-tagger, one whose hands are not tainted with the bloody drug war and one who truly upholds the rule of justice. They want to work with a health undersecretary who is an expert in eradicating deadly and infectious diseases, not an expert in violating human rights and extrajudicial killings,” it added.
The group also urges Marcos to immediately appoint a DOH secretary “who is determined to protect and defend the health workers against discrimination, intimidation and violence including cases of red-tagging and killings.”
Earlier, Marcos said he has yet to appoint a permanent chief of the health department because the country has to move away from Covid-19 emergency and businesses have to be opened up.
“We have to get away from the emergency, the emergency stance of the DOH because we have to open up businesses. We have to make the Philippines more hospitable to travelers, both business and tourists,” Marcos said.
“And it does not help if we are still under a state of calamity, if we are the only country that still has a mask protocol. But these are mandated to us by the laws that were passed during the pandemic. So kailangan pa nating ayusin ‘yun,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)