Angara bats for free COVID-19 testing for job seekers

A medical frontliner administers a swab test on a resident. Image from Facebook/ Tuguegarao City Information Office

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sonny Angara on Thursday filed a measure to provide all Filipinos seeking employment amid the pandemic with free COVID-19 testing.

In filing Senate Bill No. 2291, Angara noted the “predicament”  that job seekers are facing to comply with the requirement of companies to submit a negative COVID-19 test result.

He called his measure “a needed employment stimulus.”

“If they can’t feed hungry mouths, how can they pay for nasal swab?” the senator said in a statement.

Under the bill, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will cover the cost of the testing.

An individual is considered qualified for a free COVID-19 test if he meets the following requirements: a young person who seeks employment for the first time, an unemployed person who is actively seeking employment, and a displaced worker who was permanently terminated due to the pandemic.

COVID-19 testing centers would also be required to reserve slots for those individuals who will qualify for free tests, which will also be refunded by PhilHealth based on a prescribed price.

The bill also states that COVID-19 tests shall no longer be an “additional mandatory requirement” for Filipino job seekers.

A Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test would cost about P3,500 to P5,000 which is almost the same price as two sacks of rice, according to Angara.

“For jobless breadwinners, it is choosing between two sacks of rice or an RT-PCR swab,” he said.

He also mentioned that despite employment applications having shifted online, the hiring process would still require face-to-face interviews or demonstration of skills and would entail job seekers to produce a negative COVID-19 test result that would serve as their gate pass.

“Kung luluwas ka sa isang lungsod, minsan kailangan yang negative result as gate pass. Kahit na sabihin na online ang application, kadalasan may face-to-face interview na kasunod, o kaya actual demonstration ng skills,” he said.

(If you go out of the city, sometimes you will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test result which would serve as your gate pass. Even if the applications are online, there is usually a face-to-face interview that would follow, or an actual demonstration of skills.)

Angara also cited that this measure will be beneficial for fresh graduates, who are identified to be the “struggling demographic” to find jobs amid the pandemic.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of unemployed individuals in the country reached 4.14 million in April 2021 which corresponds to an 8.7 percent unemployment rate This is considerably higher than the reported  7.1 percent unemployment rate in March. Sofia Vertucio, trainee

/MUF