Presidential adviser apologizes after blasting doctors for rapid testing concerns

Presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Jose Ma. "Joey" Concepcion III on Wednesday apologized for his scathing words against doctors, but added that he was only referring to a certain group and was not a general statement.

"First of all, I would like to put on record that I have nothing but the utmost gratitude and admiration for the doctors and frontliners who continue to do a great service for our country during this crisis," he said in a statement Wednesday evening.

"I pointed out that a select group of doctors are against efforts to test employees using a combination of antibody rapid test and RT-PCR," he added.

During the Laging Handa briefing earlier on Wednesday, Concepcion hit back at doctors' groups that are against the use of rapid test kits amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"'Yung problema na itong mga doktor, salita ng salita, wala namang ginagawa. Complain ng complain," he said during the virtual briefing.

He was responding to the claim of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) that rapid test kits are not recommended to screen employees returning to work, given the high possibility of false results.

Concepcion, through the private sector's Project ARK initiative, has imported rapid test kits to businesses to allow their employees to return to work following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

"Again, I apologize if my words were perceived to criticize doctors in general. I hope we will be united in our efforts," said the businessman.

"With this, I extend my deepest thanks to all frontliners that continue to go beyond the call of duty for our people. We can and we will heal as one," he elaborated.

Concepcion has been pushing for the return to work in sectors such as infrastructure, even going so far as to say that poor people are "resilient"to the coronavirus. Medical experts have stressed there is no evidence to support this view.

"Through the tireless work of our private donors and medical volunteers, we were able to bring down the cost of rapid test kits by more than 50%. We hope to do the same for RT-PCR.  This will greatly help augment government efforts in increasing the testing capacity of our country," Concepcion added in his statement.

"This is the only way to fight an invisible enemy and stop the spread of the virus," he said. — BM, GMA News