THE Department of Interior and Local Government has signed a circular with two other government agencies for the hiring, training and deployment of 5,754 contact tracers in Metro Manila this month.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the number is 1,000 more than what the Department of Labor and Employment initially committed to hire under its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers or TUPAD program.
Año, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, and Manila Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. signed on Saturday the joint circular on the implementing guidelines for hiring, training and deployment of the contact tracers starting this month.
As of March, NCR has nearly 9,500 contact tracers.
“We thank DOLE for allocating more funds for the hiring of contact tracers,” said Año
Under the circular, DOLE allocated P280.7 million for the salary of the contact tracers for three months under TUPAD program, or P537 per day which is the minimum wage rate in Metro Manila.
The DILG will create committee which will screen applicants based on the TUPAD guidelines, in every local government unit in Metro Manila. The DILG will be responsible for the training of the contact tracers using modules developed by the Local Government Academy, Department of Health-Metro Manila Center for Health Development, and the Philippine Public Safety College.
The MMDA will assist in information dissemination on the hiring of the contact tracers and will monitor the project implementation.
Of the 5,754 contact tracers, the DILG, said 1,347 will be deployed to Quezon City, 713 Caloocan City, 707 Manila, 349 Pasig Cit, 333 Taguig City, 302 Parañaque, 278 Valenzuela City, 259 Makati City, 234 Muntinlupa City, 268 Las Piñas City, 209 Marikina City, 192 Pasay City, 171 Mandaluyong City, 161 in Navotas, 152 Malabon, 47 San Juan, and 32 in Pateros.
“This deployment is part of our continuous effort to intensify our contact tracing program to contain COVID-19,” said Año.
