CLAIM: The country’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is headed by lawyers.
RATING: False
In the PiliPinas Debates 2022 conducted by the Commission on Elections last March 19, 2022, presidential candidate and physician Jose Montemayor Jr. falsely claimed the pandemic Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) was composed of lawyers.
He made the erroneous claim as he was debating with fellow presidential aspirant Sen Manny Pacquiao on proposals to abolish the body.
Montemayor reiterated his call to abolish the IATF, claiming most of its policies have put people in misery and have worsened the economic hardships without resolving the pandemic.
Pacquiao defended the task force, saying it only needed to be guided by the needs of the country.
However, Montemayor claimed that the task force only wanted the people to bow to its policies.
“Tandaan niyo ha, ang IATF—ang mga namumuno diyan mga abogado (Remember, the IATF is led by lawyers) but we have a health issue,” he added.
Montemayor’s claim is FALSE.
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