MANILA, Philippines — Senator Christopher “Bong” Go has never attended any meetings of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque clarified on Wednesday.
“Senator Bong Go has never attended an IATF meeting. The IATF meetings are always secret and they’re attended by members of the Cabinet,” Roque said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
“What we’ve witnessed is the Talk to the People attended by some members of the IATF, but that is not an IATF meeting,” he explained.
Roque noted that only five out of over 30 IATF members are attending the Talk to the People to report accomplishments of their respective agencies.
“So, if you noticed, there’s always just Secretary [Francisco] Duque, [Eduardo] Año, [Carlito] Galvez, [Delfin] Lorenzana, and myself. So, there are only always five members of the IATF in the Talk to the People which underscores the fact that it is not an IATF meeting because IATF meeting has more than 30 members,” the spokesman said.
Roque, moreover, said that those from the IATF would be “protesting” if the Talk to the People attendees are referred to as IATF members.
He made the remark when questioned if President Rodrigo Duterte would be considering sitting with more senators during the IATF meeting to discuss the alleged corruption of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. which currently faces Senate probe, and which the chief executive defends.
“So, if your question is, should other senators be invited to observe, well, my answer is, everyone’s invited to observe because it is publicly broadcasted,” Roque said.
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