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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DILG optimistic Congress would approve P6.6B budget for contact tracers

DILG optimistic Congress would approve P6.6B budget for contact tracers

Published Oct 6, 2021 11:05 am

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) expressed high hopes that the P6.6 billion additional budget it is requesting for the hiring of 25,000 coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) contact tracers (CTs) would be approved in Congress.

“Yes. We are very optimistic that it will be approved as per the commitment of both houses of Congress,’’ said DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya.

Health experts maintained that the best way to contain the transmission of the dreaded COVID-19 is to have an improved contract tracing scheme complementary to the mass vaccination program.

In the Sept. 6 House Committee on Appropriations budget hearing, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año noted that the department has no funds for contact tracers under its 2022 proposed budget.

He explained that they had requested the additional amount from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) but this did not materialize due to the given budget ceiling.

Based on the DBM’s National Expenditure Program (NEP), the DILG has an allocated budget of P248-billion for 2022.

Earlier, Año said the contracts of the DILG’s contact tracers will expire at the end of this year with health personnel saying that the pandemic is still here to last for a far longer time.

On August 6, the DILG commended President Duterte for approving the P1.7 billion budget for the re-hiring of 15,000 contact tracers whose services will be extended until the end of the year.

Following the President’s approval, Año instructed the DILG regional offices to rehire the 15,000 contact tracers.

“The national government and the LGUs are in this grueling mission together to protect our people from the virus and to prevent its spread. Kapit-kamay tayo at walang iwanan hanggang sa tayong lahat ay makabangon na mula sa pandemyang ito (We join hands and no one should be left out up to the point where all has risen from the pandemic),’’ Año said.

The DILG chief stressed it is crucial for the DILG to maintain the LGUs’ pool of trained contact tracers in order to ensure that the contact tracing operations in the country are sustained and that the government’s investment in the training of CTs is optimized.

In a past interview over GMA News, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III the additional budget request for the hiring of contact tracers is vital to attain the ideal contact tracing ratio of 1:800.

Densing said in addition to this the local government units (LGUs) should hire their own contact tracers to help the government identify the potential carriers of the coronavirus.

“Dapat ang mga lokal na gobyerno may sarili silang contact tracers at dahil kulang ang kanilang pondo ‘di nila nabubuo ang tamang numero ng contact tracer, one contact tracer per 800 population, hindi natutupad (The local government units should have their own contact tracers and because of financial constraints, they are not able to come up with the desired number of contact tracers which is one contact tracer per 800 population),’’ Densing said. (Chito A. Chavez)

Related Tags

Epimaco Densing III P6.6 billion additional budget for contact tracers Jonathan Malaya DILG Eduardo Año 2
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