The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced that it will start recruiting 50,000 additional contact tracers next month to support the country’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
The move follows the recent ratification of the Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) in Congress which is now up for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.
“Ang mangangasiwa nito sa local ay ang mga provincial offices namin at regional offices namin. Ang iba naman ay iha-hire namin (Our provincial and regional offices will supervise this in the local level. We will hire the rest),” DILG Spokesperson USec. Jonathan Malaya explained.
“The hiring will be decentralized so the majority of the hiring will be done by our provincial offices,” he continued.
At least Php 5 billion have been allocated under the Bayanihan 2 for the said program. Those who may qualify are graduates of allied medical courses and criminology, and those studying such courses in the college level. Interested applicants must prepare their application form, personal data sheet, NBI clearance, drug test result, and diploma.
“Tatanggap ito ng around 20,000…Pero contract of service, hindi naman ito plantilla item (They will receive 20,000…But this will be on contract of service, not for plantilla item),” Malaya clarified.
“Initially, four months engagement. And then hopefully, madagdag sa budget namin next year 2021 yung continued hiring ng mga ito. ‘Pag nangyari po ‘yan ay ire-renew na lang namin sila for another eight months para maging one year ang total engagement nila (Initially, four months engagement. And then hopefully, our budget for the continued hiring will increase next year 2021. If this happens, they may be renewed for another eight months to make it a year of total engagement),” he added.
The additional contact tracers will be deployed all over the country, particularly populated areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases such as the National Capital Region (NCR), Calabarzon, Cebu, and Davao Region.
The DILG is aiming to reach the ratio of one contact tracer to a population of 800 based on the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO). The interior department is also optimistic to complete the hiring of contact tracers by September. There are currently 85,000 contact tracers nationwide. – Report from Patrick de Jesus
