MANILA — With the government’s recording of the first monkeypox case in the Philippines, the appointment of a new Health secretary becomes urgent, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said Friday.

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But even without a sitting secretary leading the Department of Health (DOH), people manning the agency should start planning on how to combat the spread of monkeypox, Pimentel said.

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“There should be a plan. But no need to emphasize monkeypox over 1 case. No need to be alarmed or to panic. Relax lang. Magplano muna,” Pimentel, in a text statement said.

Sen. JV Ejercito meantime called the country’s first monkeypox case amid the COVID-19 pandemic as “worrying.”

Ejercito urged the President to form a team similar to the Inter-Agency Task Force that will be responsible in handling monkeypox cases.

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“I am urging PBBM to create a task force similar to the IATF so our response is coordinated. This should involve officials from health, quarantine, immigration, and other related agencies,” Ejercito said.

Ejercito is confident that the monkeypox concern can be handled well by DOH Acting Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros likewise joined the call for more vigilance in guarding the citizen’s safety against the spread of the monkeypox.

She also expressed her confidence that the current DOH team is doing its job well, as shown by the prompt alert to the public that there is already a case of monkeypox in the Philippines.

“Kahit na wala pang naitalagang Health secretary, dapat ay patuloy na palakasin at pagtibayin ang kakayahan ng ating health system na magbantay at mag-screen ng mga suspected cases ng monkeypox,” Hontiveros said.

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, chairperson of the Senate committee on health, meantime urged the DOH to further intensify the “awareness, detection, disease surveillance and containment efforts.”

Go is set to file a resolution that would seek a public hearing regarding the DOH and other concerned agencies’ capability in combatting the disease.

The hearing will also check the government’s “strategies and measures”.

The Philippines announced its first case of monkeypox on Friday, nearly a week after the World Health Organization declared the infectious disease a global health emergency.

The case was detected in a 31-year-old Filipino who arrived from abroad last July 19, according to Health Undersecretary Beverly Ho, who serves as the Department of Health's alternate spokesperson.