DOLE to hire contact tracers under TUPAD
SAN JOSE, Antique, April 21 (PIA) -- More contact tracers are expected to be hired in the province of Antique through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) Workers Program.
In a virtual press conference, House Deputy Speaker and Antique Lone District Representative Loren Legarda urged DOLE to employ contact tracers to support their families who have lost their income due to the pandemic.
“Effective immediately, I request the provincial DOLE of Antique to immediately hire all the contact tracers in San Jose and every LGU,” Legarda said.
Legarda disclosed that some 4,700 individuals were already hired by the Department of the Interior Local Government (DILG), through TUPAD as contact tracers in the NCR Plus bubble.
As such, she wanted to replicate the hiring of contact tracers in Antique due to the spike of COVID-19 cases.
“I will pour in money in Antique for massive contact tracing in the 18 LGUs but they must be contact tracers, not political leaders, kamag-anak, or whatever,” Legarda said, adding that the allocated budget will be audited as part of the COVID-19 response initiatives.
Families of frontliners were also encouraged to apply as contact tracers.
Meanwhile, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello, in a phone call with Legarda, reiterated that LGUs have the discretion to hire contact tracers, if needed.
Since the pandemic, DOLE has been implementing TUPAD as a community-based package of assistance providing emergency jobs for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be completed. (LTP/LML-PIA6 Antique)
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