THE government may not be able to hire the required number of contact tracers as funds could only afford salaries just for 5,000 persons.
At the Laging Handa press briefing, the labor department’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns director Karina Trayvilla said that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will have to cut down the number of COVID-19 contact tracers – from 14,000 to just 5,000.
Citing budget constraints, Trayvilla said that the number has to be reduced since the budget allotted for it only covers a month, when the tracers will actually be working for three months.
“As to the numbers, the initial number given to us by [Labor] Secretary [Silvestre Bello] is 12,000 people for 30 days, and yesterday, he added 2,000. But the thing is, his idea is these people will be under contract for 30 days,” she said.
“As it turns out, the requirement set by [local government units or LGUs] is for a longer period which is 90 days. So with a budget for 14,000 workers [for 30 days], we have to stretch it for 90 days kaya siguro mga roughly mga limang libo po ang maa-accommodate para magkaroon sila ng mahaba-habang duration na trabaho,” she said.
She added they don’t even have funds to defray the cost of shuttle services for the contact tracers.
“That will be up for discussion during a meeting tonight. Ang hinihingi po kasi ng DOLE kung maaari ay i-counterpart po ito ng LGU kasi hindi po ito part ng subsidies ng TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced) program,” she added.
Trayvilla said contact tracers to be hired by LGUs in the national capital region which accounts for more than half of the total number of fresh cases in the country. She added that contact tracers will have to be paid a monthly salary of P16,110, representing the prevailing minimum wage in Metro Manila.
The ideal ratio is one contact tracer per 800 individuals.
“What the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) said to us is they need one contact tracer per 800 individuals. That is the most ideal number. What we want to get hired are those who are from the informal sector, those workers displaced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also, we hope that a high school graduate will be considered qualified as a contact tracer,” she said.
Only one billion of the P4.5 trillion of the 2021 national budget, has been allotted for contact tracing operations.
DILG records showed that the country has so far hired 255,000 contact tracers.