Senators seek MD, not ‘military dati’ for vaccine response

MANILA, Philippines — Senators yesterday called for a revamp and expansion of the membership in the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to include more representatives from the private sector as COVID cases continue to surge and the government’s vaccination program appears to be lagging.

“It appears the IATF does not only need to ‘change oil’ but also a ‘change engine and driver’,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.

“If there will be reinforcements to the IATF, it should not be the MDs – mga military dati (former military) – because this sector has already met its quota,” Recto said.

“COVID is fast and furious while the vaccine rollout is slow and sputtering. These are signs of a government’s pandemic machinery in trouble and a nation in danger,” he added.

He said it’s time to expand the membership of the IATF and include people from private businesses with “superb managerial skills, like those who have been running companies with a million moving parts with efficiency and precision.”

Under Executive Order 168 that created the task force, the leadership of the IATF remains an all-government affair, chaired by the secretary of health with the secretaries of the departments of foreign affairs, the interior and local government, justice, labor and employment, tourism and transportation as members, Recto said.

He said the private sector has no permanent seat in the National Task Force for COVID, the command center headed by the secretary of defense, he noted.

“To cite one skill set, the war against COVID requires logistics experts who supply a customer base numbering in the tens of millions, like that bakery in Laguna that every day brings millions of pieces of perishable bread to store shelves from Aparri to Zamboanga in a matter of hours,” Recto said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the government’s goal to cut infections by 25 percent in two weeks may not be sustained unless it addresses the serious gaps in mass testing, contact tracing and isolation and speed up the vaccination roll-out.

“I’m afraid we will just be running in place and find ourselves moving from one lockdown to another in the months ahead. I am reminded of the child’s hand play of close-open and open-close,” Pangilinan said.

He urged Malacañang to stop blaming the people for the surge in the cases as they need to go out and make a living to feed their families.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson scored Malacañang for being defensive when he asked where the vaccines are that it promised months ago.

Lacson said Malacañang and the Department of Finance did not answer the question directly, but maintained that the money intended to procure the vaccines are intact.

“Let me say again that I never asked where the money went. What I asked and will continue to ask until we get the accurate answer is that since the money has been available through loans for quite sometime and I thank the DOF for its foresight, where are the vaccines?” Lacson asked.

Calls rejected

Malacañang rejected calls by some senators and health worker groups to revamp or abolish the IATF, saying the country is now equipped to handle and treat COVID infections.

“We are doing the right thing,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr.  said as he dismissed critics’ claim that the administration is incompetent to address the pandemic.

Roque said there are efforts to destroy the administration due to politicking in the run-up to the 2022 national elections.

“The government’s primary task force cannot be blamed for the surge of cases,” Roque said, noting there are similar incidents of surge abroad due to the new COVID variants.

One year since the outbreak, Roque said the IATF has adopted the whole-of-government approach to handle the pandemic.

Since last year, the Philippines has allocated more than 6,595 beds in quarantine facilities in Metro Manila with 83 temporary treatment and monitoring facilities.

The Philippines’ testing capacity has increased from 3,000 a day in April 2020 to 50,294 testing in March this year. “That is not incompetence,” he insisted.

As of March 16, Roque said there were 76,916 persons who are recovering in Oplan Kalinga mega quarantine facilities and quarantine hotels.

Roque said the case fatality rate has been slowing down, citing reports of the health department on Monday.

“Let us not belittle the sacrifice of our  doctors, experts and government workers who comprise the IATF,” he said.

“The science of masks, wash, social distancing, isolation and treatment, slowly opening of the economy, cash assistance and ayuda, effective fiscal management, coordination with local governments are the reasons why about 86 percent comprised those who have recovered,” Roque said.

“This is proof that we are doing the right thing. This is a proof that the IATF is able to do its mission,” Roque said.  “Let us be fair and objective.”

He said the government won’t accept the proposals of its critics, noting  those were politically-motivated.?Lacson’s “where are the vaccines” remark irked

President Duterte, who scored him for insinuating there is corruption in the handling of funds loaned from the World Bank and other financial institutions for the procurement of COVID vaccines.

During his address to the nation on Monday night, Duterte said it is obvious that some are politicking by  trying to paint his administration as corrupt to make themselves clean in the eyes of the public.

“That’s what you would call the classic case of if you want to appear white, you paint the other guy black para ang labas mo puting-puti ka. Si Mr. Clean, parang ganoon. Ganoon ‘yan eh, style bulok,” Duterte said.

Roque reiterated the President’s statement that some quarters are using the pandemic for political gains in the run-up to the national elections next year.

Roque, who is still on quarantine after contracting COVID, appealed to critics to help instead of attacking the government.

He blamed the new and more contagious variants as the reason for the sudden surge in cases.  –  Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe