IATF to head to Davao for meeting with Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to perform official functions while in Davao City, including presiding over a meeting of the government's coronavirus pandemic task force, Malacañang said Monday.
Past meetings of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases were held in Manila, where the central offices of national government agencies are.
Duterte went home to Davao City over the week, the second time he traveled to the southern city since the Philippines imposed quarantine protocols. The first time was in the middle of May, or 67 days since he was stuck in Malacañang because of lockdown measures.
"First, the president remained in Manila for 67 days and he went home for three days...So three days are not enough. But now that he is in Mindanao, he is not there just for a reunion. He would also monitor what is happening in Mindanao," Roque said at a press briefing.
"In fact, he will have official functions in Davao, including delivering a report to the nation and meeting with some members of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases," he added.
Roque said some members of the IATF would travel to Davao to attend the meeting. The president may deliver a public address from the southern city on June 4, he added.
Critics have assailed Duterte for traveling to Davao to be with his family while ordinary Filipinos cannot visit their kin because of quarantine restrictions. Roque had defended the trip, saying the president needed to know what was happening in Mindanao.
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