President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. defends the recent appointment of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan as an undersecretary of the Department of Health (DOH).

Marcos said that as former law enforcement head, Cascolan will work on looking at the functions of the health department.

"General Cascolan, we put him there because he has to look at... Of course, he’s not a doctor and it’s not… It’s not health issues that he has to look at that’s why he doesn’t have to be a doctor. He’s going to look at the function of the DOH," he said.

"We talked about rightsizing. We talked about structural changes. ‘Yun, we need somebody to examine what is, what has been going on. What is good, what are the best possible options. That will be his function that's why it is of special concern," he added.

Marcos also noted that possible detection of syndicate within the health department is also part of the task of the former PNP chief.

"That's part of his work. If something like that comes out, he will have to report it to us and we will have to do something about it. But, generally, it is an administrative audit, if you want to call it that," he added. Robina Asido/DMS