President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s executive order (EO) does not include labor unions’ wish to have a total prohibition on all forms of contractualization by virtue of direct hiring as the general norm of employment.
Section 2 of the EO no. 51, which the Palace released on Wednesday, May 2, states that “contracting or subcontracting, when undertaken to circumvent the worker’s right to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining, and peaceful concerted activities pursuant to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, is hereby strictly prohibited.”
The said provision does not include what the labor groups want, as stated in the draft EO that they submitted to the Office of the President.

According to the labor groups’ draft EO, as sent by the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) to media, the Section 2 on the “Prohibition Against Contracting or Subcontracting” should include: “Consistent with the policy of this government, direct hiring of the employee by the principal employers shall be the general norm in employment relations.”
It adds: “Security of tenure is hereby strengthened by the general norm of direct hiring.”
Meanwhile, both versions define Security of Tenure as “the right of employees not to be dismissed or removed without just or authorized cause and observance of procedural due process consistent with the constitution, labor code of the Philippines as amended, and prevailing jurisprudence.”
In a statement, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani T. Zarate said the President’s EO is “useless as its general provisions are already stipulated in the labor code.”
“Ang kailangan ngayon ay maglabas ng policy na ipagbawal ang lahat na forms of job contracting. Gusto lang ng EO na ito ay pahupain ang galit ng mga manggagawa sa pagtalikod ni Pang. Duterte sa pangako nyang wakasan ang ENDO at kontraktwalisasyon,” he added.
(What is needed now is to issue a policy that prohibits al forms of job contracting. This EO only wants to appease the people’s anger over Mr. Duterte’s complete turnabout from his campaign promise to put an end to ENDO and contractualization.) — Arjay L. Balinbin

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