Palace to Drilon: IATF not a failure

Malacañang on Wednesday accused the opposition of politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic after claiming that the government failed to contain the spread of the virus.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon earlier said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) did not properly handle the public health crisis as infections in the country continue to climb.

As of July 21, the Philippines has recorded 70,764 COVID-19 cases with 23,281 recoveries and 1,837 fatalities.

But IATF spokesperson Harry Roque disputed Drilon’s observation, saying the Philippines has a low mortality rate, the critical care capacity remains “good” and most of the cases are mild and asymptomatic.

“I don’t think we failed; for as long as we did not meet the 3.5 [million cases] projection of [the] UP [University of the Philippines]. And UP has been very good [in] their forecast,” Roque, who is also the spokesperson for President Rodrigo Duterte, told CNN-Philippines in an interview.

“For as long as we’re minimizing death rates, I think we have succeeded. And there’s no way I can change that position because one life loss is too much.”

Roque reiterated the President’s appeal to set aside politics amid the crisis.

“We will always have different points of view, particularly those coming from the opposition, and I think they’re resorting to politicking stories. The appeal of the President is to concentrate on the COVID-19, set aside politicking for the time being which I think is a very wise policy,” he said.

The IATF—the country’s highest policymaking body on COVID-19 response, is headed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, whose competence and credibility have been repeatedly questioned by several senators due to his handling of the crisis.

Duterte, however, stood by Duque despite calls to replace him. — RSJ, GMA News