MALACAÑANG will invite three University of the Philippines (UP) experts who criticized the government’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis to instead join the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
In a public briefing on Thursday, July 23, 2020, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said he will make sure that invitations are sent to Dr. Joshua San Pedro, former UP Diliman chancellor Michael Tan and associate professor Maria Corazon Tan.
“Tinatanggap po natin ang lahat ng reaksyon lalo na ng aking mga taga-eskwela diyan sa UP. Alam n’yo po ang IATF ay malaki po ang tiwala at malaki po ang ginagamit na serbisyo ng mga taga UP mula po doon sa kanilang forecast doon sa team headed by Professor Lagmay,” Roque said.
“So siguro po iimbitahin ko nalang po itong tatlong nagsalita para tumulong po sa IATF nang sa ganon hindi na nila masabi na failure tayo, you’re all welcome to join po the pool of experts ng IATF and I will personally make sure that letters of invitations are personally sent to my colleagues in UP,” he added.
According to San Pedro, Coalition for People's Right to Health co founder, the country has yet to move on from where it started when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the Philippines.
He noted that the Philippines is the only country with community transmission in the Western Pacific Region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Kailangan pa ng improvement. Kailangan makita ang effectiveness nito. Back to square one ang nangyari," San Pedro said.
Tan, former UP Diliman chancellor, said the Duterte administration deserves a “failing grade” for its Covid-19 response.
He said that despite having the world’s longest lockdowns, the Philippines’ response against the virus did not improve.
"Makatao kasi tayo so hindi numerical grade. Ang ibibigay ko ay letter grade na F as in fail, F as in falfak. Generally, the lockdown was a war on the poor, whose living conditions further deteriorated," said Tan.
Maria Corazon Tan, UP Diliman's College of Social Work and Community Development associate professor, said the government focused on “harassing” civil society organizations.
"In the face of government neglect, civil society organizations and communities took it upon themselves to respond to the needs and help poor communities and sectors," she said.
"Instead of supporting these initiatives, the government harassed, attacked, imprisoned and killed members of CSOs providing relief goods to communities,” she added. (SunStar Philippines)