Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Tuesday (March 23) said he disagrees with the proposal of some lawmakers to abolish the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Senators Imee Marcos and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III had earlier said that doctors and public health experts must be tapped to lead the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic citing the IATF and the Department of Health’s (DOH) alleged “gross incompetence.”
In an interview with ANC, Domagoso said abolishing the entire IATF will not help in the country’s fight against COVID-19 and would only lead to more confusion among the Metro Manila mayors and the public.
“Sa ngayon, sa gitna ng pandemya, magtatanggal tayo ng mga taong nagtatrabaho (In the middle of the pandemic, why will we fire people who are doing their jobs)?” he asked. “For what?”
Although he also acknowledged the shortcomings of government officials in the pandemic response, particularly with the delay in the delivery of the vaccines and the entry of new COVID-19 variants into the country, the Manila mayor said they must stop playing the “blame game” and should just unite to fight the pandemic.
“Mahilig tayo sa blame game (We like playing the blame game),” he said. “Wala kayo sa kalsada, hindi kayo puyat, hindi kayo napapagod, pagod lang ‘yung mga dila ninyo, mga bibig ninyo. (You are not out in the streets, you are not sleep deprived, you are not tired, only your mouths and tongues are tired). People are doing their jobs.”
“Instead of magturo-turuan tayo kung sino may palpak, ayusin natin, saan ang palpak? Ano ang palpak? Ano ang suhestiyon? Tingin ko ‘yun ang mas maganda (Instead of pointing fingers at each other, let’s fix the problem. Where did we go wrong? What went wrong? What are the suggestions? I think that would be better),” he added.
"Let’s sit down. Kahit ano pa mga politika nila, kahit ano pa mga posisyon nila (no matter what their politics are, no matter what their positions are), let’s just sit down. We are all Filipinos, we are all suffering,” Domagoso said. “Maniwala kayo sa’kin, mga kababayan, mag-hunos dili tayo, magkaisa muna tayo, magkaroon tayo ng common goal (Believe me, my countrymen, let’s calm down. We need to have a common goal).”