OCTA: We’re not competing with gov’t

Independent monitoring group OCTA Research has expressed its commitment to help the government in the fight against COVID-19 despite questions about its credentials and research methodologies.

In an interview with veteran journalist Malou Mangahas, OCTA fellow Ranjit Rye said the group, which is composed of volunteer medical doctors, political scientists, mathematicians, and infectious disease experts, only wanted to serve the country.

“Hindi po kami nakikipagligsahan sa gobyerno. Ito kasi napakaliit kami. Volunteer lang ito (We are not competing against government. We are a small organization composed of volunteers.) These are passionate people who want to serve the country through OCTA,” Rye said.

“Kami ho committed to help government in whatever way possible kasi ng laban ng COVID laban natin lahat po, nasa giyera tayo (We are committed to help the government in whatever way possible because the fight against COVID-19 is everybody’s business. We are in a state of war),” he added.

Rye also made it clear that OCTA is not connected to any government body, including the University of the Philippines (UP), although some OCTA fellows are faculty members of the premier state university.

“We are not shy to let you know that we are proud faculty members of UP. Pero ang ginagawa po namin independent ho at wala hong kinalaman yung mga recommendations namin sa official positions ng University of the Philippines or University of Santo Tomas,” he said.

(We work independently and our recommendations do not reflect the official positions of the University of the Philippines or University of Santo Tomas)

“Walang ginagamit na government funds at hindi ho kami gumagamit ng Bayanihan funds (We don't use government funds, including the Bayanihan funds),” the political science professor said.

Early this month, five lawmakers called for a House inquiry supposedly “to ascertain the credentials and background" of OCTA Research.

The lawmakers cited a statement of infectious disease expert Edsel Salvana who alleged that OCTA's projection is based on COVID-19 cases reported in the last two weeks, which are “subject to error, because some get tested later or earlier.”

In response, Dr. Guido David, an OCTA fellow, said the proposed inquiry would give them the opportunity to publicly discuss their methodology.

“We believe we have the skillset to produce the data analytics we produce every week for the country and in the service of our fellow Filipinos,” Rye said.

Aside from COVID-19 situation updates, OCTA’s services also include public opinion research, policy research and advocacy, and training and capacity building, as well as qualitative and quantitative research. -MDM, GMA News