New ‘endo’ bill can be passed — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The vetoing of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill is just a “temporary setback” for workers as the measure could still be passed before President Duterte steps down in 2022, Malacañang said yesterday.

Duterte vetoed the bill last week, citing the need to strike a balance between the interests of businesses and workers. The measure, which would have removed ambiguities that allowed employers to skirt laws against labor only contracting, is one of the bills certified as urgent by the President.

Duterte defended his decision to veto the security of tenure bill as he faces criticism for allegedly turning his back on his campaign promise to ban labor-only contracting and other abusive labor practices. 

Duterte said lawmakers should have followed what was agreed upon with regard to the measure, one of the bills he certified as urgent.

“You do not make it hard for the capitalist also to move,” the president said during a briefing on the situation in quake-hit areas in Batanes. 

“The security of tenure should also provide the security of the capital...This is a democracy. It should be fair,” he added. 

Duterte said employees who are lazy, incompetent or who have “no IQ” may go to the labor arbiter if their employers decide to fire them. 

“You are now saddled with one or two employees and if you fire them, he will go to arbiter, to the NLRC (National Labor Relations Commission), then they will be facing cases instead of helping his fellowmen, he would have a problem and it has happened many times,” he added. 

Duterte said he is thinking of resubmitting the bill to Congress to introduce provisions that would balance the interests of stakeholders. 

“The habitual absentees, when you ask them to leave, they will go to NLRC to go back to work, that’s not good,” the president said. 

“It can’t be that way. It’s not fair. even if he’s a millionaire, even if he’s a consultant, fair is fair...Don’t make it a burden for me...I can help my fellowmen but do not make (it a) burden to me,” he added. 

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo claimed efforts to prohibit illegal contractualization – a campaign promise of Duterte – have started and would continue under the President’s watch.

“It’s just a temporary setback on the part of the working class because the President is also looking at the side of management,” Panelo said in a radio interview.

“Ultimately, our workers will suffer. Many will lose their jobs. If companies stop their operations, where will they go?” he added.

Panelo said Congress may introduce a new Security of Tenure bill that does not totally prohibit labor only contracting. He said many businesses would cease operations if there is no “definite classification” of the companies that are not covered by the ban on labor only contracting.

“The labor contracting prohibition cannot be absolute,” he said.

Asked whether the security of tenure could still be enacted within the next three years, Panelo replied: “Definitely, if you really want to have that law, Congress can do that.”

Refile without harm to businesses

The Department of Finance (DOF) said lawmakers are still welcome to refile the Security of Tenure bill in the 18th Congress, but this time, hopefully, with improvements to balance the welfare both of workers and business. 

When asked if the President’s move was a welcome development, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said, “I think so.” 

However, Dominguez said the veto does not mean Congress cannot anymore pursue a measure to fight against labor-only contracting and other exploitative employer practices. 

He said lawmakers are welcome to refile the bill, with amendments that will not diminish the country’s competitiveness and hamper investments. 

“You just improve the competitiveness of the Philippines, and make sure that it is even handed. Because you know, you have three elements right? You have labor, capital and management. Everybody’s role has to be enhanced simultaneously, it cannot be one or the other,” he said.

Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list Buhay, meanwhile, said there was “wisdom” in Malacañang’s decision to thumb down the Congress-approved proposal, adding the Chief Executive “clearly understands and knows how the country’s developing economy works.”  

“The reality is, the practice of short-term contractual employment supports a multitude of Filipino families that otherwise would not have a single breadwinner,” the former Manila mayor added. 

According to Atienza, labor contractualization is a function of the country’s high unemployment and underemployment rates. The domestic job market – the supply and demand for labor – remains “highly imbalanced” owing to the country’s still-developing economy.

As the economy expands and achieves a higher employment rate in the years ahead, Atienza said fewer Filipinos would actually need, want and seek less secure contractual jobs.

Labor groups, lawmakers dismayed

In response to the veto, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said workers from various labor unions will march to Mendiola and other areas nationwide, not only to protest the veto of the SOT bill, but also to demand the enactment of stronger laws against illegal forms of contractualizaiton.

Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said they will launch a “Black Monday” protest as part of the continuing fight to put an end to the end of contract (endo) scheme.

Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesman, said they are preparing to lobby for a new and stronger version of the SOT bill.

“Workers want a law that will ensure regular jobs is the norm in employment relations. We do not accept the excuse that employers can outsource jobs even if it is directly related and necessary to business. That simply opens the floodgates to the abusive system of contractualization that is happening today,” Fortaleza pointed out. 

The country’s unemployment rate was preliminarily estimated at 5.1 percent as of April, down from 5.5 percent in the same month in 2018, based on figures provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). 

“But the real problem is we still have a 13.5-percent underemployment rate as of April, though it is down from 17 percent in the same month in 2018,” Atienza stressed.  – With Mary Grace Padin, Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla