THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) yesterday said funds are still not available for the hiring of some 50,000 contact tracers needed in locating people who had close contact with persons who tested positive of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“Dito po sa contact tracers natin ay meron po tayong programa niyan. Ngunit wala po sa DILG ‘yung pondo para dito (On the hiring of contact tracers, we have a program on that.
But the DILG still has no funds for that),” said Malaya.
Last week, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the DILG will start hiring the 50,000 contact tracers next month. Roque said the government is eyeing to tap out-of-work jeepney drivers as contact tracers.
Malaya said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Mitigation of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has already made a request for funding but funds are yet to be made available.
The task force includes DILG Secretary Eduardo Año as a member.
“I understand that the necessary request for budget has been submitted already to the Department of Budget and Management,” said Malaya.
“Once the funds are available, we can discuss in public the hiring system, the qualifications and requirements of the DILG (for the applicants). In the meantime, it’s better that we wait first for the necessary funding for this program,” he added.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has told a Senate committee of the whole hearing that the Department of Health (DOH), in coordination with other government agencies, will hire some 130,000 contact tracers for three months to cover a1:800 ratio for the country’s total population.
The program, Duque said, would need a total funding of P11.7 billion.