MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. has been named as the chief implementer of the country’s national policy against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Thursday.
“Yes. He was designated as Chief Implementer of the IATF against Covid 19,” Medialdea said in a text message to the Inquirer.
President Rodrigo Duterte designated Galvez, former military chief, to the post in a memorandum dated March 24.
Galvez, as chief implementer, is to ensure the strict compliance and adherence of everyone to the guidelines and protocols issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
“He was further tasked to protect and promote the safety and welfare of the public at all times and ensure the efficient and expeditious distribution of government assistance to the public, with particular attention to our citizens who are in most need,” the memorandum stated.
According to IATF spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the country’s National Action Plan (NAP) against COVID-19 aims to “adopt measures for containment and mitigation of the spread of the virus.”
The IATF will serve as NAP’s policy-making body while the National Task Force (NTF) will be headed by the Department of National Defense (DND) as earlier announced by the President.
As of Thursday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 707, with the death toll at 45 and recoveries at 28.