Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco T. Duque III has dropped his bid for a congressional seat in his hometown in Pangasinan in favor of a position offered to him by President Arroyo.

“Hindi na po,” he said. “Merong ibang position na ibibigay sa atin si Ma’m (President Arroyo),” Duque said in a phone interview.

Duque said Mrs. Arroyo told him about the new plans after the latter filed her Certificate of Candidacy to run for the second congressional district of Pampanga.

Earlier, Duque said he is not running for senator although he was one of the Cabinet members mentioned by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita who would run for the May 2010 polls.

The health chief said the new position offered to him is national in scope although he declined to give further details about it.

Information on this new position will be made available in the coming days, he said.

Since he assumed office in 2005, Duque said he has made several achievements that placed the DoH in the list of the top performing government agencies as indicated by surveys.

Duque said his accomplishments include the reduction of prices in essential medicines, increasing the coverage of the Philippine Health Insurance Company (Philhealth) from 34 percent in 2001 to 86 percent, increasing the DoH budget from P11 billion in 2007 to P24 billion in 2009, upgrading hospital facilities, and implementing effective containment measures against public health threats such as the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, the Reston-Ebola virus, the entry of melamine-contaminated milk products from China, and Leptospirosis.