Governor Arthur Yap on Friday said that there is no need to investigate anonymous blogger Bohol Monitor for its accusations that doctors in Bohol are making money out of the pandemic and are meddling in the provincial government’s decision-making in its COVID-19 response.
The Bohol Medical Society (BMS) had earlier cried foul over the allegations hurled by the controversial blogger over Facebook, saying that the baseless allegations “dampened their morale.”
However, Yap, during a press briefing, claimed that doctors told him to “not be distracted” by the issue.
“I will just follow the statements of the doctors that we should just focus on working together,” Yap said.
According to the governor, persons who feel “aggrieved” by the Bohol Monitor’s statements may file a complaint themselves.
“As to investigating them, then the party who feels that they are aggrieved at this point in time pwede naman sila mopa imbestigar di man nato sila e-control or pugngan sila. Bisan kinsa, you can have the Bohol Monitor investigated if you want,” Yap said.
The first-term chief executive no longer expounded on his thoughts on the Bohol Monitor’s statements against the doctors who, he said, are the government’s “partners.”
He instead proceeded to claim that the provincial government and the BMS were being pitted against each other by members of media.
“Doctors have always been our partners, I don’t understand why there is any issue about the provincial government and the doctors being used by some members of the media,” he added.
In a Facebook post on April 25, the Bohol Monitor called out doctors in the province for meddling in the government’s COVID-19 response.
“Ang mga doctor ba sa Cebu or sa Negros nag-apil apil sa desisyon sa Gobernador? Is national IATF not enough? Why is Bohol Medical Society Hungry for attention?” Bohol Monitor said.
In another statement posted on April 26, the page said that doctors are making money out of the pandemic.
“Naa na may nat’l IATF. Why gustog lockdown ang Bohol Medical Society? Maayo man na sila kay gatibatiba na man sa Philhealth billions,” it added.
The Bohol Monitor, based on its Facebook history, used to be the official Facebook page of The Bohol Tribune. It was ran by the paper led by its former editor Michael Ligalig.
After Ligalig resigned from the news organization, however, the page’s name was changed to the Bohol Monitor.
The Bohol Tribune has officially disowned Bohol Monitor as they created their new official Facebook page The Bohol Tribune Newspaper.
Bohol Monitor has since been operating anonymously and has been noted to be a staunch supporter of the Yap administration.
The page has been actively posting about provincial government developments, praises for the Yap administration and attacks against critics of the governor. (R. Tutas)
