The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the agency needs an additional budget to fund its contact tracers.
During the House Committee on Appropriations budget hearing on Monday, September 6, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the agency has no funds for contact tracers under its 2022 proposed budget.
“All of our contact tracers’ terms will expire December 21, 2021, and the pandemic is not over yet,” Año told the House panel.
Año said P6.7 billion will be needed to fund its contact tracers.
“We would like to request for the funding of 25,000 contact tracers for the year 2022,” he appealed to legislators.
The DILG secretary said they initially requested the amount from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), but was not included because they were given a ceiling.
Under the NEP, the DILG was allocated a P248-billion budget for 2022.