UP distances from OCTA after lawmakers push for probe on research group
MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines distanced itself from OCTA Research after five lawmakers pushed for a congressional probe into the private think tank’s membership, methodologies and composition.
“The OCTA Research Team’s polling, research, and consultation activities have no connection to UP and are not sponsored, endorsed, or organized by the university,” UP said in a statement Friday evening.
UP stressed that while it encourages its scholars, researchers and experts to pursue their own projects, there is a difference between these and university-sanctioned projects and programs.
In House Resolution No. 2075, lawmakers said they want to find out whether OCTA is affiliated with the University of the Philippines because it was referred to as UP-OCTA in past news reports.
But it has been clear in now deleted posts carried on UP’s official website as early as July 2020 that the UP-OCTA team "is an independent and interdisciplinary research group composed primarily of UP faculty members and alumni."
Notes at the bottom of the posts state that OCTA is also composed of contributors from the University of Santo Tomas and Providence College, USA and that their findings and recommendations “do not reflect the official position of the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, Providence College, or any of its units.”
The call for a congressional inquiry into OCTA Research was prompted partly by government experts disputing its analysis that there is a surge of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
The Department of Health has acknowledged that cases are rising in the capital but said on July 28 that there is still "no definitive evidence" of a surge.
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