The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will start hiring at least 50,000 contact tracers today after President Duterte signed the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.

(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said that the additional 50,000 contact tracers are “the game-changer in the country’s COVID-response since this will allow us to cut the transmission of the disease and ultimately defeat COVID-19.”

"We welcome the signing of Bayanihan 2 Law for it means that we can now go ahead and start the hiring process for additional contact tracers urgently needed by the various local government units nationwide. Again, we thank the President and Congress for allocating much-needed funds for our COVID response,” Año said.

Año noted that the DILG is searching for ‘’dedicated and patriotic individuals who want to join the fight against COVID-19.’’

“If you want to take an active part in defeating the pandemic, join the DILG contact tracing teams,” he added.

He said that the contact tracers ill be assigned to the various contact tracing teams of LGUs.

At present, contact tracing teams are the composite units led by the municipal and city health officers with members from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS), and volunteers from civil society organizations (CSOs).

There are currently 97,400 contact tracers nationwide and the additional contact tracers will allow the country to reach the target of 150,000 contact tracers.

“With the additional 50,000 contact tracers, we will now be able to meet the (Baguio City Mayor Benjamin) Magalong formula of tracing 37 close contacts of one COVID patient up to the third degree,” Año noted.

Under the guidelines drafted by the DILG, the contact tracers will earn a minimum of P18,784 per month in a contract of service status.

Among their responsibilities are to conduct interviews, profiling, and perform an initial public health risk assessment of COVID-19 cases and their identified close contacts; refer the close contacts to isolation facilities; conduct enhanced contact tracing in collaboration with other agencies and private sectors; conduct daily monitoring of close and general contacts for at least 14 days, and perform such other tasks in relation to the COVID response.

The DILG chief said that the National Capital Region (NCR) will get 19.2 percent of the total number of the new contact tracers to be hired “for the simple reason that it remains as one of the hot spots of COVID-19.’’

A huge number of these new contact tracers will operate and work in all the regions of the country with NCR having the biggest number,” Año said.

Año said that to qualify, the applicant must have a Bachelor’s degree or college level in an allied medical course or criminology.

Aspirants must also be skilled in data gathering and have assisted in research and documentation; able to interview COVID-19 cases and close contacts in order to gather data; possess the ability to advocate public health education messages, and have the investigative capability.

“It is crucial that a candidate must be willing to do research and investigation because that is the very essence of the job,’’ he added.

Año added the applicants are required to submit a letter of intent, personal data sheet, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance, and drug test results.

He said that contractual personnel whose employment were not renewed, Overseas Filipino Workers whose employment were disrupted, and local employees whose service have been recently terminated may be given priority in the hiring process if they are qualified.

2,500 gov’t vacancies

Nearly 2,500 new job vacancies in government will be up for grabs in the week-long Government Online Career Fair (GOCF), the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said in a statement on Sunday.

The GOCF, which runs from September 14 to 18, is one of the main activities of this year’s 120th Philippine Civil Service Anniversary (PCSA).

It will be held in partnership with JobStreet.com.

“The GOCF seeks to promote easy access to employment opportunities to the public sector by bringing jobseekers and hiring government agencies together in a virtual job fair. This is also held to help Filipinos rendered jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the CSC statement read.

“As of this writing, the CSC and JobStreet.com have gathered 2,452 vacancies from 249 national government agencies (including central and regional offices), local government units, government-owned and con-
trolled corporations, and state universities and colleges,” it said.

But the Commission reminded jobseekers that a repository of vacan-
cies submitted by government agencies can still be accessed on its CSC’s website, particularly at www.csc.gov. ph/career.

“To date, there are 7,555 positions posted in the CSC website that are still open for applications,” the CSC said.

Details such as requirements, qualifications, and deadline for submitting applications are included on the website.

To join the GOCF, job seekers are required to go to https://onlinejobfair.jobstreet.com.ph, type in their email address, and fill out the CSC Form No. 100 or the Personal Data Sheet (PDS) from there. The PDS will be automatically attached to the account once created.

Chito Chavez & Ellson Quismorio

DILG begins hiring of 50,000 contact tracers