NIATF-IED harmonizes with regional counterparts vs COVID-19

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Aug. 20 (PIA) – National Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATF-IED) chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Scretary Martin M. Andanar showed solidarity with the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (RIATF-IED) in the government’s response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 

In a press confernece held yesterday, Aug. 19, here, Secretary Galvez siad “Nandito po kami ngayon sa area ng region 10 vis-à-vis Cagayan De Oro para bisitahin po at mapuntahan ang lahat ng mga regions at tingnan ang kalagayan at bigyan tuon ang mga bagay na pwede nating ibigay."

(We are here in region 10 vis-à-vis Cagayan De Oro to visit and check the current state of the region and to fulfill the responsibility that was given to us by our President Duterte to visit all the regions and assess their current state and allocate assistance to the things that we can provide.)

Galvez, who is known for his leadership as Western Mindanao Command chief during the battle of Marawi, returns to Northern Mindanao as the chief implementer of COVID-19 IATF to find out compliance and adherence by the masses to the protocols issued by the NIATF-IED to limit the spread of the virus.

“Nandito rin kami para ma alalayan at ma harmonize ang ating national action plan para maging maayos at maging seamless ang implementation nito hangang sa provincial, municipal, city, at hangang barangay level,” he added.

(We are also here to assist and harmonize our national action plan to make it more organized and seamless for its implementation in the provincial, municipal, city, and to the barangay level.)

In addition to the harmonization, the NIATF-EID members also looked into the kind of assistance they can provide to the various government agencies charged with strengthening the region’s testing capacity, reinforcing treatment facilities, discussing capacity building stratagems to address COVID-19 crisis.

To cap off the press conference, PCOO Secretary Martin M. Andanar, who is also the Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Northern Mindanao lauded the RIATF-IED regional heads for properly responding to the pandemic.

“As the CORDS of region 10, I am very blessed to have Director Mylah Faye Cariño of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA10), Director Arnel Agabe of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), our DOH Regional Director, our generals, Centino and Anduyan, and our company here in region 10. That is one of the reasons why region 10 is one of the best performing regions in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC). We shall also take this as a challenge to be one of the best regions that will combat COVID-19,” Andanar said. (VPSBautista/PIA10)

source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1050796