DILG to hire 10,000 contact tracers

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will hire 10,000 contact tracers for Metro Manila in a move to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said they are just waiting for the enactment of Bayanihan 2 by President Duterte to fund the mass hiring.

“We have around 4,000 contact tracers. We would need to hire more than 10,000 tracers in Metro Manila. We will double or triple them here in Metro Manila,” Malaya said in an interview yesterday on dzMM Teleradyo.

The DILG will prioritize the hiring of graduates of medical-allied and criminology courses, but will also accept college graduates.

DILG regional offices will handle the mass hiring and deployment of contact tracers to local government units, Malaya said.

The department plans to fill the 50,000 quota for contact tracers by next month under the P5-billion budget approved by Congress.

All contact tracers will receive regular salary and frontliner benefits from the government, it said.