No contact tracing fund under DILG budget for 2021

MANILA, Philippines — There is no allocated funding for the national government’s contact tracing efforts for 2021, it was disclosed during the Senate budget debates on Tuesday.

This worried Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who said the lack of funding makes it appear that the government is “abandoning” its duty to contact trace.

“I don’t know if that’s wise to abandon contact tracing immediately” Recto said.

Before this, Recto had asked Senator Sonny Angara if there is allocation for contact tracing under the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“Not specifically for contact tracing unlike what we put in [Bayanihan to Recover as One Act], there’s no similar item,” Angara, who was defending the DILG budget, told Recto.

“Of the P4.5 trillion budget next year, there is no amount of money for contact tracing,” Recto reiterated.

“Wala po [There is none],” Angara said.

Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, which is set to expire on December 19 this year, the DILG was given P5-billion for the hiring of 50,000 contact tracers.

The P5 billion covers the recruitment, training, compensation and operational expenses of the contact tracers.

As of Tuesday, the DILG has hired 46,338 contact tracers of the 50,000 quota.

Asked what would happen to the contact tracers hired by the DILG once the P5 billion has been depleted, Angara said local government units (LGUs) can absorb them.

“The hope is for the LGUs will be able to absorb the trained personnel who have been supervised and given training by the DILG so that they can continue to do their work under the auspices of the respective LGUs,” Angara said.

Still, Recto said LGUs may not have enough funds to sustain the compensation of these contact tracers given the possible decrease of local revenues due to the pandemic and recent calamities.

“I don’t know about the LGUs hiring contact tracers dahil konti rin yung pera na lang ng LGU. Malaki na rin ang nagastos nila for this year,” he s pointed out.

(I don’t know about the LGUs hiring contact tracers because the LGUS may not have enough money. They spent a lot this year.)

“In the province of Batangas kasi tinamaan din ng Taal [eruption] ‘yan so their local revenues next year will be less than this year, including revenues because of the pandemic, babagsak ang local revenues similar to the national government,” he added.

(In the province of Batangas, it was hit by the Taal eruption so their local revenues next year will be less than this year, including revenues because of the pandemic, the local revenues will also drop similar to the national government.)

He reiterated that the lack of contact tracing fund under the DILG’s 2021 budget appears that “we’re abandoning it.”

“Walang pondo rin ang LGU for that,” Recto said.

(The LGUs don’t have funds for that too.)

In response, Angara said: “Hindi naman siguro (Probably not) full abandonment but in a sense it is a scaling back given that there is no continuity for the 50,000 [contact tracers].”

Angara said the DILG could submit to the Senate a list of LGUs that have the capacity to absorb these contact tracers.

But Angara assured that the DILG will supervise LGUs in its contact tracing efforts.

“According to the [DILG Secretary Eduardo Año], they are not abandoning it but they will continue to supervise the LGUs who have also hired contact tracers of their own,” the senator said.

JE