Duterte certifies ‘end to endo’ bill as urgent

He cited the need to immediately enact Senate Bill 1826, titled “An Act Strengthening Workers Right to Security of Tenure,” in a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III dated Sept. 21.

MANILA, Philippines — MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has certified as urgent a bill that seeks to prohibit contractualization and labor-only contracting, practices that he said are causing poverty and underemployment in the country.

He cited the need to immediately enact Senate Bill 1826, titled “An Act Strengthening Workers Right to Security of Tenure,” in a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III dated Sept. 21.

The President said the measure would strengthen workers’ security of tenure by prohibiting the “prevalent” practices of contractualization and labor-only contracting, describing these as something that “continue to immerse our workers in a quagmire of poverty and underemployment.”

“It is now certified urgent by the President, in line with his promise to put an end to endo (end of contract),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday.

When the president certifies a bill as urgent, it will not be covered by the rule which states that a measure can only be approved on final reading three days after its approval on second reading.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the bill last January.

Roque said the Senate version aims to bar all forms of labor-only contracting and does not exempt contractors with huge capital.

Under the bill, there is labor-only contracting if the job contractor, whether licensed or not, merely recruits, supplies or places workers to a contractee, whether he has substantial capital or investment.

If the bill is enacted, companies would have to hire employees directly and could no longer source workers from employment agencies.

“This effectively repeals the provision of the Labor Code that permits labor-only contracting as long as the company has enough capital and assets,” Roque said.

Labor groups are becoming more optimistic that the country is closer to ending illegal short-term employment.

“We are near the goal. It’s closer than it has ever been, but we still have some work to do. The Senate has been given a directive to craft a law that will end contractualization. We must see this through and ensure that the proposed measure shall address the weaknesses of existing laws on security of tenure,” said labor coalition Nagkaisa chairman Sonny Matula.

He said the workers’ campaign to eradicate the endo scheme and other illegal forms of contractualization got a big push after Duterte certified the security of tenure bill as urgent.

“Labor’s persistence has so far paid off. Our relentless efforts have shown dividends. After more than two years, the Duterte administration has finally made a big step towards the fulfillment of a campaign promise,” Matula noted.

To ensure that legislators act on the certification, he said labor groups would mount more rallies to ask the lawmakers to pass the bill at the soonest time.“With the election season fast approaching, the Senate and House of Representatives, voting separately, are under pressure to ratify the harmonized version and submit the law for the President’s enactment,” Matula said. The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) also lauded Duterte for certifying as urgent the security of tenure (SOT) bill, which was already approved by Congress on third reading.

Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP national executive vice president, said the certification of the SOT bill is definitely a positive vibe to workers whose morale has been low due to rising cost of living.“We pray that it will be passed by Congress consistent with the presidential promise instead of being watered down by the corporate vested interests which are overrepresented in Congress,” he said.TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said the certification from the President is an early Christmas gift for workers who continue to struggle in making both ends meet.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III claimed that DOLE has long recommended the need to certify the SOT bill as urgent.

“We are now looking forward to the better implementation of regulation ensuring security of tenure of workers with the expected passage of the SOT bill,” he said.Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod hopes that the bill will be passed by November, if not early next year.– Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin

Palace certifies as urgent Senate’s anti-‘endo’ bill

MALACAÑANG has asked that Senate Bill 1826 or the Security of Tenure (SoT) Bill be certified as urgent, following President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s commitment to abolish “endo,” an employment practice that denies workers a path to permanent status.

In a palace document dated Sept. 21, Mr. Duterte asked Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III to “certify the necessity of the immediate enactment” of the SOT Bill.

Malacañang added that the bill needs to pass to “strengthen workers’ security of tenure by prohibiting the prevalent practice of contractualization and labor-only contracting which continue to immerse our workers in a quagmire of poverty and underemployment.”

Mr. Sotto said in an interview with reporters that the chamber will push for the bill’s passage before Congress adjourns on Oct. 12.

“We’ll do our best to pass it by Oct. 11,” he said.

Sen. Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, who chairs the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, added: “We certainly need a law that will not only uphold our workers’ basic labor rights and restore dignity of work, but also a law that will promote quality employment without jeopardizing business operations but rather create more stable jobs for every Filipino.”

The Senator, who is also the author and principal sponsor of the bill, added that the SoT bill will address the interests of both the labor and business sectors.

Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello expressed the hope that the law will pass and be implemented promptly.

At a briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Bello said he has a personal timetable of October passage for the bill allowing it to be signed into law by December.

Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod said in a chance interview on Tuesday that the move to certify the bill is “(a step forward).”

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (NAGKAISA) Chairperson Jose Sonny G. Matula said the process of certification brings the sector closer to the goal of ending contractualization.

“It’s closer than it has ever been but we still have some work to do,” Mr. Matula, who is also the President of the Federation of Free Workers, said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added, “After more than two years, the Duterte administration has finally made a big step towards the fulfillment of a campaign promise.”

Associated Labor Unions — Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) National Executive Vice-President Gerard R. Seno said in a press release, “The moment the SOT bill is enacted into law, there is now a chance for contractual workers to be included in the country’s growing economic growth.”

For his part, Employers Confederation of the Philippines Acting President Sergio R. Luis-Ortiz, Jr. stressed that the passage of this bill could effectively reduce the labor force, adding that employers will be deterred from hiring workers especially for high-demand periods like Christmas.

He added that eliminating contractualization will also put off current and potential foreign investments from the country.

“Many foreign investors are turned off (by the measure),” he said in a phone interview with BusinessWorld on Tuesday.

“You cannot (remove contractualization); we’ll be the only one in the world to do that,” he added, noting that the contracting of services not directly affecting the company’s business is a common global business practice. — Gillian M. Cortez

Duterte certifies as urgent anti-contractualization bill

Organized labor finally got a big push in its quest to end Contractualization.

President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent Senate Bill 1826 that seeks to end Contractualization and strengthen security of tenure of workers.

“NAGKAISA welcomes the certification of President Duterte,” said Atty. Sonny Matula, chairperson of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition.

“We are near the goal. It’s closer than it has ever been, but we still have some work to do. The Senate has been given a directive to craft a law that will end Contractualization. We must see this through and ensure that the proposed measure shall address the weaknesses of existing laws on security of tenure,” Matula said.

Nagkaisa has consistently campaigned against Contractualization since its inception in 2012.

“Labor’s persistence has so far paid off. Our relentless efforts have shown dividends. Now is not the time to rest. After more than two years, the Duterte administration has finally made a big step towards the fulfillment of a campaign promise,” said Matula, who is also the president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW).

“We shall mount more pressure within the halls of Congress and the parliament of the streets,” said Matula.

Once passed by the Senate, a bicameral conference will be convened by both chambers of Congress to harmonize the provisions of the separate bills.

“With the election season fast approaching, the Senate and House of Representatives, voting separately, is under pressure to ratify the harmonized version and submit the law for the president’s enactment,” Matula said.

Workers' strikes result of Duterte's policy failure – labor groups

File photo

MANILA, Philippines  – Labor groups hit back at President Rodrigo Duterte, saying that strikes are a result of the Chief Executive's failure to uplift working conditions.

In a live interview with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on on Tuesday, September 11, Duterte said investors were leaving the country because workers were staging strikes.

Duterte particularly cited the Kilusang Mayo Uno: "Itong KMU, sige strike. Eh di magsara ano [ang mga negosyo]. Sino magugutom? Pilipino." (KMU keeps on holding strikes. So businesses close. Who goes hungry? The Filipinos.)

"Walang negosyante papasok. After 3 months, mag-strike kayo. Malulugi kapital niya, kaya sila nagsiawatan. Sa China, walang strike. Trabaho lang," he added.

(Businessmen won't come here [because when they do], after 3 months, you hold strikes. There will not be enough returns for their capital, that's why they are backing out. In China, they don't have strikes. They only work.)

The KMU reminded the President that the right to strike is a "universal workers' right guaranteed by international and domestic laws."

"The upsurge of workers' strikes these past months are results of Duterte's failure to end contractualization, refusal to address the rising prices of commodities by implementing a significant wage hike, and of the government's fascist attacks against trade union and human rights," KMU chairperson Bong Labog said in a statement.

In a text message to Rappler, Sentro secretary-general Josua Mata said Duterte had failed to understand the country's economic situation. (READ: [ANALYSIS] Why is Philippine inflation now the highest in ASEAN?)

"There are certainly a number of reasons why investors are leaving – the terrible state of our infrastructure, gargantuan traffic, high power rates, unpredictable policy environment, corruption – but the labor movement's advocacy for workers' rights is not one of them," Mata said.

"It’s red tape, corruption, poor and ageing infrastructure that discourages investors not labor advocates," Alan Tanjusay said, spokesperson of Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).

Labor groups have slammed the administration's policies, and accused Duterte of siding with businesses instead of the workers for failing to end contractualization. This year's Labor Day observance brought together 20,000 workers and various groups – the biggest protest in years.

The groups have called for a wage increase due to higher prices brought by high inflation rates.

The Global Workers' Rights Index 2018 shows the Philippines is ranked among the worst countries to work in. – Aika Rey @reyaika Rappler.com