Health advocate joins Senate race

FILE: DR. ONG FOR SENATOR. Health and wellness advocate Dr. Willie Ong, accompanied by his wife Liza, presents his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for senator in the 2019 midterm elections at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday (Oct. 11, 2018). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA — Former Department of Health (DOH) consultant, Dr. Willie Ong, is seeking a senatorial seat.

Ong said it is the right time that a medical practitioner make a comeback in the Senate.

“There is a hole in the Senate. There has been without a doctor since Sen. Juan Flavier,” he said.

Ong added that having a doctor in the Senate, who will push for the healthcare needs in the country, including cheap or free medicines, surgery, consultation, and laboratory tests, is important.

He is running under the Lakas-CMD party.