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Partido Manggagawa (PM) said the first wave of protests will be held in Metro Manila and Cebu to show the outrage of workers over President Duterte’s decision to veto the bill, which took nearly two decades to go through the legislative mill before getting bicameral approval, only to be scuttled at the last minute as business groups mounted a last-ditch lobby against it.
“The security of tenure bill is the latest victim of killing under the Duterte regime. Workers vow to continue the fight to end ‘Endo,‘” declared Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman of Partido Manggagawa, referring to Duterte’s 2016 campaign promise to “end Endo [end of contract],” the catch-all term for illegal contractualization.
Dubbed the “Black Monday Protest,” the noise barrage in Metro Manila will be attended by members of PM, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City at 5 p.m.
Sentro Secretary-General Joshua Mata said the militant labor group will also hold a small protest action in Mendiola, Manila, in the morning.
The Cebu protest will be held at the Gate 1 of the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu City, also at 5 p.m. “After these events, labor groups will be meeting to discuss the big indignation rally,” Mata said.
During these demonstrations, Fortaleza said they will hold Duterte accountable for “killing” the SOT bill in favor of business interests.
Local and foreign business groups had campaigned against the SOT as crafted by the 17th Congress, despite observations the final version—the Senate bill as adopted by the House of Representatives—was “watered down.”
According to an exclusive BusinessMirror report, a briefing paper sent to Duterte by some employers estimated that in manufacturing alone, business will have to shell out P49 billion annually as additional cost to comply with the measure if it is signed into law.
“Workers will not forget this betrayal by Duterte of his promise to end Endo. He is parroting the lame capitalist alibi that businesses will die if workers are made regular. Duterte’s promise to end Endo is dead,” Fortaleza said.
Refiling next
The protests also aim to drum up public support for their renewed attempt to have the SOT bill refiled in the 18th Congress.
According to labor leaders, several lawmakers have already committed to file the SOT bill, including Senators Joel Villanueva and Risa Hontiveros, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto prodded Malacañang at the weekend to convene a tripartite summit before it submits to Congress its version of another SOT bill, to avert another veto.
This, even as Villanueva ruled out a congressional override option to reverse the Palace veto.
“Override is an option but I don’t think it’s a viable solution,” Villanueva said over the weekend, adding that “some lawmakers are not comfortable with it.
Villanueva, however, confirmed his readiness to refile the vetoed measure.
“We will refile the bill because it is the right thing to do,” Villanueva vowed.
Palace told: Write own version
For his part, Recto signaled determination to push passage of the bill. “But this time, the Executive Branch should write its own version and send it to Congress with an attached presidential certification as to its urgency,” Recto said, adding: “If it has changed its mind, then the version it now wants must be in black and white, so nothing will be lost in translation.”
Recto explained this is needed because the Palace veto message did not cite the specific provisions that triggered the veto.
“Let the burden of proposition fall on them this time,” the Senate President Pro Tempore said. “But this will be for the information of Congress only, and should not mean that it must be the one passed en toto.”
Better still, Recto recommended that Malacañang convene a tripartite summit on endo, with business, labor and the government in a frank exchange of views.
“Last, this episode underscores once again the need to strengthen its liaison work with Congress. I sympathize with Senator Villanueva who had worked hard on this bill…This was not an easy bill to write. Joel made sure that it was a balanced one. It was a tightrope act under stormy conditions.
Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri recalled it was Duterte who reminded lawmakers about the Security of Tenure bill in his State of the Nation Address in 2018, only to veto it.
“The Cabinet should get their act together as it would make us legislators look stupid and embarrass the President as well, as he mentions these measures during the Sona,” Zubiri said. - By Samuel P. Medenilla & Butch Fernandez
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