House probe into OCTA Research won’t be a witch hunt, lawmakers say
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers pushing for a congressional inquiry into the OCTA Research Group assured that their proposed probe would not be a witch hunt and that the private think tank should not fear getting shut down.
“Some quarters are trying to make it appear that yung hearing na ito (this hearing) is some kind of witch hunt to shut OCTA down. That’s the farthest from the truth,” Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay (Quezon City) said in a press conference. “We are not out here to discredit anyone.”
Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy echoed this, saying that they are not fighting or wanting to shut down OCTA, which has been releasing projections on the COVID-19 pandemic in the country as early as July 2020.
Suntay and Herrera-Dy said all they want is to clarify the methodologies of the research group and to get to know it better.
“This is your chance actually na ibahagi sa lahat kung anong methodology niyo. Kasi kung mas magaling talaga kayo sa DOH (Department of Health) or mas maaasahan namin kayo, then [that’s] something na makakatulong sa ating bansa,” Herrera-Dy said.
(This is your chance to show what your methodology is. Because if you are actually better than the DOH or you’re more reliable, then that’s something which can help the country.)
The lawmakers said they would also want to find out why OCTA and DOH sometimes have different pronouncements on the spread of COVID-19 in the country, considering that the private think tank uses DOH data for their reports.
They added that they will also invite DOH to the probe, which Herrera-Dy said would likely start after enhanced community quarantine is lifted over Metro Manila.
OCTA is composed of academics from the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas and the United States-based Providence College.
Lawmakers said in House Resolution No. 2075 that they want the chamber’s good government and public accountability panel to look into OCTA’s methodologies and composition partly because government experts dispute its analysis that there is a "surge" of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
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