Duterte working with Congress for ‘final’ anti-endo bill

PRESIDENT RODRIGO  Duterte is coordinating with Congress to come up with a “final” measure that will end the practice of labor contractualization in the country, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

In a press conference held at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte would fulfill his campaign promise to stop all forms of unlawful contractualization.

Duterte, however, wants to make sure that the security of tenure bill that he would sign into law is “acceptable to all stakeholders,” Roque said.

“I think the administration will continue to work with Congress para doon sa (for the) final anti-endo bill that would be acceptable to all stakeholders,” he said.

Roque said Duterte was ready to sign the proposed Security of Tenure bill in July 2019 but vetoed it because of some of its “objectionable” provisions.

He, nevertheless, guaranteed that getting rid of unfair practice of temporary work scheme “continues to be a promise” of Duterte.

“The whole nation knows na isa siya sa mga campaign promise ni Presidente (that that is one of the President’s campaign promises) and we continue to reach a compromise na acceptable po sa lahat ng stakeholders (that is acceptable to all stakeholders),” Roque said.

In July 2019, Duterte vetoed the proposed Security of Tenure Act following opposition from labor groups.

Duterte, in vetoing the bill, recognized that certain provisions of the bill, like the intended scope of prohibited contracting, could result in capital placement difficulty which “stifles the rights of the Filipino labor force in the future.”

He also acknowledged that the proposed measure “unduly broadens the scope and definition of prohibited labor-only contracting, effectively proscribing forms of contractualization that are not particularly unfavorable to the employees involved.”

To date, there are an estimated 60,000 contractual workers in the country.

In May 2018, Duterte signed Executive Order 51 that “strictly” prohibits contracting or subcontracting “undertaken to circumvent the workers’ right to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining, and peaceful concerted activities.”

The House Committee on Labor and Employment, chaired by 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Eric Pineda, earlier tasked a technical working group to conduct a thorough study of the proposal that would extend probationary employment of workers from the current six months to 24 months. (Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos)