MALACAÑANG SAID, contrary to President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s earlier pronouncements, that he may still sign the executive order (EO) on labor contractualization depending on the outcome of his meeting with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on the eve of Labor Day.
“I can confirm there might be an EO that may or may not be signed depending on the meeting tonight with Labor Secretary (Silvestre H.) Bello III,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing on Monday.
Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod said in a press conference last week that his department is “still open to the possibility” that the EO will be “reconsidered” by Mr. Duterte by “May 1.”
For his part, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay said: “If President Duterte decides to sign an Executive Order on Endo (end of contractualization) today, Labor Day, whose EO on Endo would President Duterte sign? We ardently hope that since it is Labor Day, Mr. Duterte (will sign) the labor-drafted EO.”
“If Mr. Duterte signs the EO drafted by labor leaders, he will be the new modern-day hero to the Filipino working class. On (the other) hand, if he signs the EO drafted by business and employers’ groups, he will be forever condemned. Nobody would believe him anymore,” Mr. Tanjusay said in a statement.
If the President chooses to keep quiet or seek to merge the two contrasting drafts and come up with a hybrid EO, Mr. Tanjusay also said, “the people and the working class will perceive him to be a compromised leader.”
“So, it’s now or never and take it or leave (it) for Mr. Duterte as far as the workers’ sector is concerned,” Mr. Tanjusay added.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said in a statement it will continue to push for prohibition of all forms of contractualization based on the following reasons:
“First, the current policy of ‘allow then regulate’ has failed the workers and this nation. A country of endos is a nation of poor, violated, and voiceless people; second, it is immoral as it allows employers to save on labor cost while their middlemen earn profit from their common, devious trading transaction; third, it is anti-labor because it violates all the fundamental rights of labor; and fourth, it is anti-development as it exacerbates poverty and deepens inequality in our country.”
Also on Monday, Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel pushed for the immediate passage of the Security of Tenure bill, saying the proposed measure would provide an alternative to the country’s labor export policy.
“If the government wants our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to return home and end the Filipino diaspora, let us ensure that they will return to a country where regular and decent jobs are plentiful,” she said in a statement.
The senator said the bill would protect workers from unfair labor practices which would entice OFWs to return home and eventually end the “mass exodus of Filipino workers” seeking better job opportunities abroad.
Senate Bill No. 1116 or the proposed End of Contractualization Act of 2016 seeks to provide stricter regulations on contractualization and simplifies the classification of employees to regular and probationary. It also prohibits labor-only or manpower contracting and lists unfair labor practices in a contracting or subcontracting arrangement. Its counterpart version at the House of Representatives was approved on third and final reading last Jan. 29.
Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development, earlier said he would discuss anew the bill with the Labor Department in May as President Rodrigo R. Duterte has planned to certify the bill as a priority measure. — Arjay L. Balinbin and Camille A. Aguinaldo

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