SAN JOSE, Antique – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will be hiring the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (TUPAD) workers as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) contact tracers.
During a virtual conference with Antique’s Rep. Loren Legarda and Gov. Rhodora Cadiao on April 16, Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III gave the go-signal for the hiring of TUPAD workers as contract tracers.
This was Bello’s response to Legarda’s request to have more contract tracers in the province due to the surge of COVID-19 cases.
Legarda learned that DOLE hired around 4,700 TUPAD workers as contact tracers for the National Capital Region Plus in April and wanted the same to be carried out in the province.
TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment 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 performed.
The workers are tasked to do sanitation or clean-up drive in their communities.
For Antique provincial health officer Dr. Ric Noel Naciongayo, the hiring of contract tracers could help in containing the spread of the virus in their communities, as close contacts of the positive patients could easily be identified.
He said that the province only had contract tracers from the Department of the Interior and Local Government who are assisting the municipal health officers.PNA/PN
