Faces of the News: Karlo Nograles

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles found himself handling the challenging role of communicating the government’s protocols on the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

Nograles, 43, was named spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases that is charged with combating the feared new coronavirus.

Previously, it was presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo who communicated the Palace’s directives on the COVID-19 crisis.

Nograles, a former politician turned Cabinet secretary, was tasked with explaining the restrictions of the island-wide lockdown and the declaration of a state of public health emergency and state of calamity by President Duterte as well as developments on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

At his daily press briefings, he has repeatedly urged the public to stay home and observe the restrictions on movement amid the crisis, while assuring that the government will provide relief and aid to those without any income and those working at the front lines of the fight against the disease.