MANILA - Majority of contact tracer applicants in Quezon City, among the virus hotspots in Metro Manila, do not submit complete requirements, a local official said Sunday.
Of some 1,000 applicants, only 364 submitted all of the 4 requirements: a downloadable letter of intent, personal data sheet, National Bureau of Investigation clearance, and drug test result, according to DILG-QC director Emmanuel Borromeo.
Only 113 applicants of the 2,000 additional contact tracers needed are ready for endorsement to the regional office of the DILG, Borromeo added.
"Ang ginagawa namin (What we do is), we text them, send them emails to complete their requirements," he told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.
Applicants may upload receipt of their NBI clearance application and later update their application on the DILG's portal with the actual document, Borromeo said.
The DILG-QC has until Wednesday, Sep. 23, to recruit new contact tracers, he added.
Nearly a month ago, Tthe Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on said it would be recruiting 50,000 contact tracers as the country doubles down on its fight against COVID-19.
DILG Undersecretary Bernardo Florence Jr. told TeleRadyo that the additional manpower would augment the 85,000 contact tracers deployed in various parts of the country at the time.
Contact tracers will be making between P18,000 to P20,000, with a 5 percent premium pay, Florence had said.
Ron Espiritu, a contact tracing applicant in QC, said he took a free COVID-19 contact tracing course form the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority before applying.
Espiritu said he graduated with a degree in education and taught in a private school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Di naman bago yung trabaho na to sa'kin kasi madami rin eh. Sa barangay namin, maraming kaso ng COVID. Gusto ko maging isa ako sa solusyon, imbis na nakaupo lang ako sa bahay, walang pinagkakakitaan. Gusto ko makatulong sa iba," he told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.
(This job is not new to me. Our village has many COVID-19 cases. I want to be among those helping to solve the crisis, instead of just sitting at home and not earning. I want to help others.)
The Philippines as of Saturday reported 283,460 cases of COVID-19, with 209,885 recoveries and 4,930 deaths.
Teleradyo, contact tracing, DILG, DILG-QC, contact tracing applicant, contact tracing application, COVID-19, coronavirus