Roque to UP professors who criticized govt’s COVID-19 response: Join IATF

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said the University of the Philippines professors who gave the government a "fail" mark in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic are welcome to join the coronavirus task force.

Roque extended the invitation to former UP Diliman chancellor Michael Tan, Joshua San Pedro of the Coalition for People's Right to Health and Edelina Dela Paz of the Health Alliance for Democracy.

“Iimbitahan ko na lang itong tatlong nagsalita para tumulong po sa IATF nang sa ganoon, hindi na nila masabi na failure tayo,”  Roque, who taught law at UP for 15 years, said in a televised briefing.

“You are all welcome to join po the pool of experts ng IATF, and I will personally make sure that  letters of invitation  are sent to the three colleagues of mine from UP.”

The Palace official said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) trusts the inputs of UP experts, especially their forecast on the COVID-19 situation.

Tan said on Wednesday that the COVID-19 lockdown is a "war on the poor."

Dela Paz, for her part, cited the problems faced by health care workers, including under compensation for heavy workloads, inadequate protection, and stigma and discrimination.

San Pedro said Filipinos should keep pressing the government to increase its testing capacity and provide free mass testing for COVID-19. — RSJ, GMA News