[PODCAST] What is Duterte’s actual role in pandemic response?

With COVID-19 transmissions soaring and hospitals packed, the spotlight shifts back on pandemic leadership.

There have been calls to abolish the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Critics are again using the hashtag #DutertePalpak.

The IATF-EID and President Rodrigo Duterte are two major moving parts of the government’s coronavirus response. Listen to Rappler reporter Pia Ranada explain how the IATF works and where Duterte really comes in.

The structure of pandemic decision-making is disjointed, with the task force consulting with mayors, businessmen, and doctors to come up with a set of recommendations but Duterte approving or rejecting them without being part of the policy debate.

Listen to other Seat of Power episodes:

• Episode 1: COVID-19 ward doctor assesses Duterte’s pandemic response
• Episode 2: Duterte’s hands all over ABS-CBN franchise rejection
• Episode 3: The frightening future of Duterte’s anti-terror law
• Episode 4: Duterte’s 2020 SONA in 5 minutes
• Episode 5: What happens if Duterte gets COVID-19?
• Episode 6: Duterte, Trump, Bolsonaro: The ‘medical populists’
• Episode 7: Pandemic leadership: Duterte vs Leni
• Episode 8: Duterte’s secretive Malacañang
• Episode 9: Duterte’s vaccine dreams vs reality
• Episode 10: Duterte’s role in the Cayetano-Velasco Speakership tussle
• Episode 11: 4 reasons why Duterte’s ratings are still high
• Episode 12: ‘Corruption crackdown’ by a master of spectacle
• Episode 13: Covering a President who lies
• Episode 14: Tarlac shooting: Blood on Duterte’s hands
• Episode 15: Unpacking the PSG vaccine mystery
• Episode 16: China’s new Coast Guard law and Duterte
• Episode 17: Duterte’s VFA threats: Negotiating tactic or rash outburst?
• Episode 18: Is Duterte responsible for ‘Bloody Sunday’?

– Rappler.com