Duterte: Compromise on ‘endo’ needed; ‘capitalists’ can’t be forced

By Arjay L. Balinbin

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte, who promised to end labor contractualization or “endo” during his 2016 presidential campaign, announced on Monday, Feb. 26, that he may not be able to give what labor groups want, stressing that a compromise is needed.

“I don’t think that I can really give them all because we cannot force the capitalists [to absorb their workers]. Maybe [their employers] don’t have money, or they don’t like them, or they are lazy,” Mr. Duterte said during the inauguration of the ARMSCOR Shooting Center, Incorporated (ASCI) in Davao City.

“Don’t make it hard for them to run the business the way they like it because that’s their money. So something of a compromise must be…maybe acceptable to everybody,” he added.

Mr. Duterte pointed out that only a few businesses in the country can absorb workers, noting as well the “sheer number of people who need jobs.”

“So they [the employers] want some radical changes,” he said.

Mr. Duterte also cited other countries “like Hong Kong and the United States, (where, if) you work for a certain guy and if he does not like the quality that you produce, you get out, you get paid, separated and that’s it. Ganun lang sana (That’s how they are).”

Earlier this month, Mr. Duterte asked for more time to study a proposed executive order (EO) on contractualization drafted by labor groups.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III had also announced that the President will be signing the said EO “by March.”