Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – A House Resolution 275 was filed by five congressmen prompting the House Committee on Good Government to hold an inquiry in aid of legislation on the “research, qualifications, methodologies, composition, and partnerships” of the OCTA research group.
The resolution contains “there is a public health and public policy need to ensure the safety and security of the population during this pandemic, and that information being distributed is correct and not irresponsibly published.”
Deputy Speakers Bernadette Herrera and Kristine Singson-Meehan, AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, and Quezon City Rep. Bong Suntay were the congressmen who filed the said resolution for the probe.
The congressmen also said they need to find out if the OCTA group is really affiliated with the University of the Philippines as some old news reports previously called it ‘UP-OCTA.’
Back in July 2020, a UP web page cited that the UP-OCTA team is an independent and interdisciplinary research group composed of UP faculty members primarily, and almuni, with some contributors of data from Providence College in the United States and the University of Sto. Tomas (UST).
In October 2020, the OCTA research group has recommended heavier quarantine protocols in hard-hit areas in PH, prompting Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque to tell them not to make public suggestions since their epidemiologists are not the same in numbers compared to the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF).
OCTA Research biologist Fr. Nicanor Austriacio said that everyone must work together to beat the ‘common enemy’ in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, the OCTA research group has urged the government to adjust the quarantine classification of NCR to a ‘stricter’ or stiffer status to control the assumed spike before it gets worse.
On Friday, August 6, Metro Manila will transition to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to stop the spread of the deadly Delta variant. TNF
(Information, data and reports from CNN Philippines)