91% of 50K contact tracers start work: DILG

FILE: DILG Secretary Eduardo Año. (PNA photo by Joey Razon)

MANILA – More than 91 percent of the 50,000 contact tracers hired by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) started in their jobs.

In a televised Cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año reported that around 45,742 contact tracers have been deployed and started working while close to 4,000 are just waiting for the release of their appointment.

“Ito ay malaking tulong sapagkat nabigyan din natin ng trabaho ang ating mga kababayan, lalo na po ‘yung mga bumalik na OFW (overseas Filipino worker) at saka ‘yung mga nawalan ng trabaho (This is would be a big help because we were able to provide jobs to our fellow Filipinos, especially for returning OFWs and those who lost their jobs),” Año said.

Under the guidelines drafted by the DILG, the contact tracers would be hired under a contract of service status and would get a salary of around PHP18,000-PHP19,000.

Among their responsibilities are to interview, profile, 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-19 response.

Año earlier said the government needs to boost contact tracing to further contain the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, he also reported that 183 village chairpersons are now facing raps over anomalies in the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP).

“Sa 781 complainants ay mayroong 1,259 suspects. At nakapag-conduct tayo ng 363 investigations. Ang 266 po ay nasa piskal na, ang 29 ay nasa korte, at nai-refer naman natin po ang iba sa Ombudsman. At 183 barangay chairmen po ang kinasuhan natin. Nakapaglabas ng suspension naman ang Ombudsman sa 89 barangay captains (From 781 complainants, we have 1,259 suspects. We have also conducted 363 investigations. 266 of them are with the fiscal’s office, 29 are now in court and some were referred to the Ombudsman. With that, we have filed complaints against 183 village chairpersons.

The Ombudsman has also issued suspension orders against 89 barangay captains),” Año said.

The cases filed are in violation of the Republic Act 3019 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, RA 6713 Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, and the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, among others while cases of robbery extortions and grave threats have been filed against some of the officials.