Gov’t hires first batch of 10, 136 contact tracers: Año

October 2, 2020

An initial batch of 10, 136 contact tracers have been hired nationwide from the more than 55,000 applicants, according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday.

Año said as soon as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 Law was signed,  hiring for 50,000 contract tracers went on full swing with more than 47,000 applications which have been processed by Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) field offices all over the country.

The first batch of 10,000 contact tracers have begun training prior to their deployment to the communities where they will be assigned.

“The hiring of contact tracers is being expedited as time is of the essence in our fight against COVID-19. Right now, we hired 10k and we intend to hit our commitment to employ the 50k contract tracers prescribed in the Bayanihan 2 Law before the end of this month,” he said.

Año said  there is great interest as more than 55,000 applicants submitted the requirements and they are expecting to receive more applications in the coming days.

The DILG recently announced that it will not set any deadline for the hiring of the 50,000 CTs nationwide but will continuously hire to fill up and employ personnel for the remaining slots.

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