MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Thursday said it will continue hiring contact tracers to fill up the 50,000 spots beyond its earlier announced deadline on September 23.
In a statement, the DILG said it will do away with the deadline but instead “is adopting the continuous hiring system until it has hired at least 50,000 contact tracers.”
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The DILG opened applications for hiring of contact tracers on September 14. This was following the President Rodrigo Duterte's signing of the Baynihan to Recover as One Act.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that the department’s provincial and city field offices will continue to receive applications. "What’s important to us is to fill up the slots and recruit the most number of Contact Tracers as provided in the Bayanihan 2 law so those who meet the deadline will immediately be processed but we will continue to accept applications until we have met our targets,” he explained.
Malaya said there are some 10,000 individuals who applied in Metro Manila but many still have incomplete documents. “As soon as they are deemed qualified by the selection board, they will be hired, trained, and deployed to the various [local government units],” he added.
The DILG official added that they intend to deploy the first batch of the hired contact tracers in the first week of October.
Contractual personnel whose employment were not renewed, migrant workers whose employment were disrupted and local employees who were recently terminated may be given priority in hiring, if qualified, Malaya added.
Applicants must possess skills in data gathering and in assisting in research and documentation; able to interview COVID-19 case and close contacts; advocate public health education messages; and have investigative capability.
While the DILG earlier said that they prefer college graduates or college level of allied medical courses or criminology, the department is open to graduates or college level of any course.
Contract tracers will earn a minimum of P18,784 monthly, in a contract of service status, under DILG guidelines.
Health authorities on Wednesday recorded 2,833 additional COVID-19 infections, pushing the national caseload to 294,591.
Of the new cases, 1,222 were recorded in Metro Manila. Malaya said the National Capital Region will get 19.2% of the total number of the new contact tracers to be hired.
The Philippines still has the most number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia despite enforcing one of the world’s longest and strictest coronavirus lockdowns. — Kristine Joy Patag