The hiring of contact tracers under the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) Workers program will begin next week at the earliest.
Thus, said DOLE-Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC) Dir. Ma. Karina Trayvilla on Wednesday afternoon, April 7, adding that each contact tracer would earn around P16,000 a month.
"Since kailangang kailangan nating gawin ito (Since we really need to do this), hopefully po by next week, ma-roll out na po natin yung hiring (we could roll out the hiring)," she said during a virtual press briefing.
The recruits will come from Metro Manila (National Capital Region) and its adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal. These areas, collectively known as "NCR-plus", have been under enhanced community quarantine since March 29.
The reimposition of ECQ in these areas have made it harder for informal workers to earn a living, and that's where TUPAD comes in.
"Sa National Capital Region, ang minimum wage per day is P537, so times 30 days mayroon pong mataganggap ang contact tracers natin na P16,110 (Minimum wage in the National Capital Region is P537 per day, so times 30 days, that's a salary of P16,110 for each contact tracer)," Trayvilla said.
According to her, DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello III has allocated P205 million for the hiring of contact tracers--considered a key part of the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) under TUPAD.
The initial proposal is to hire 12,000 contact tracers, but Trayvilla said this figure may still change depending on the outcome of meetings with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in the coming days, as well as whether or not the TUPAD budget could be augmented.
It was just last week when Bello volunteered the use of TUPAD funds for the hiring of additional contact tracers after he learned from DILG Usec. Epimaco Densing that they were having money issues.
As for qualifications, Trayvilla said they are pushing for the acceptance of high school graduates into the program since "they already have skills".
She said the recruits will undergo two days worth of virtual trainings, afferwhich they would be assessed via a written exam. Those who will hurdle the test would then be deployed.
Trayvilla said the hired contact tracers will be deployed to their own localities in order to take advantage of their familiarity there.