Senator Joel Villanueva has asked authorities to ensure that hired coronavirus disease (COVID-19) contact tracers are paid on schedule, saying these workers also look after the needs of their families and cannot afford to have debts.
Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, issued the statement following reports that some contact tracers hired by the Department of Health (DOH) between May and June this year have yet to receive their salaries despite rendering the work already. Their contracts will expire at the end of this month, he said.
“The report on contact tracers from the DOH not able to receive their salaries is bothering.”
“Nakakabahala po itong ulat na hindi pa rin nababayaran ang ilan sa mga contact tracer na naglilingkod sa DOH. Kaya po siguro tayo nahihirapan kumuha ng mga manggagawa kasi hindi po natin sinusuklian ng pagpapahalaga ang kanilang serbisyo (The report on contact tracers from the DOH not able to receive their salaries is bothering. No wonder they are having trouble hiring people because this incident shows how undervalued our workers are),” the veteran legislator said.
“Kung may pagkukulang man sa mga requirement nila na dokumento, tulungan po natin silang punuan iyon habang ginagampanan nila ang tungkulin sa paghagilap ng mga contact ng COVID-positive patients (If there are incomplete requirements, DOH staff should help the contact tracers comply because we know that they are swamped with tracking down the contacts of COVID-positive patients),” the seasoned lawmaker added.
“Because of this problem coming into light, we are not surprised anymore that very few of our healthcare workers, in general, are not heeding the call of DOH to join their ranks,” continued the senator, who likewise reiterated his call to lift the deployment ban on nurses.
He said that health authorities should improve the pay and the terms of employment for nurses, who are part of the prevailing deployment ban on healthcare workers. From the 600 nurses directly affected by the ban issued in April, the number has grown to 2,000 nurses.
At the recent Senate labor committee hearing on the issue, the DOH disclosed that the estimated number of healthcare workers needed by the the government was about 16,500, and only 7,850 out of the approved 10,468 slots have been filled so far.
Some of the contact tracers under the health department’s epidemiological bureau complained about the delayed salaries, saying it has already affected their abilities to provide for their families, according to a news report.
“The least we could do to our contact tracers is to ensure they are paid on time.”
Villanueva said the plight of contact tracers was unacceptable, considering that the work they do help policymakers determine the spread of the disease.
“The least we could do to our contact tracers is to ensure they are paid on time. There should not be any further delay with their salaries considering the short time of their engagement,” he stressed.
Villanueva also asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which began its effort to hire some 50,000 contact tracers after the Bayanihan 2 was signed into law recently, to improve the processing of applicants so that their manpower complement would not have to wait for months to receive their salaries.
“We hope the DILG takes heed from the experience of the contact tracers at the DOH considering that it will be hiring around 50,000 workers and they will be coming from different local government units,” he concluded.