President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent a bill seeking to eliminate the practice of “endo” or contractualization by employers and guarantee security of tenure of workers.
The House of Representatives approved its version of the bill “• HB 6908, or the act strengthening the security of tenure of workers, amending for the purpose Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the “Labor Code of the Philippines” “• on third reading as early as January 29 this year.
The Senate’s version or SBN 1826 was certified for immediate enactment by the President on September 21, 2018, after the President certifying it as “urgent.”
Duterte had signed an executive order putting an end to the practice of “endo”—short for “end of contract”—in front of thousands of participants at the 116th Labor Day celebration back in May.
But the President said the EO was not enough as the Senate also has to provide a long-term solution to ensure the security of tenure of workers.
He added Congress should amend the “outdated” Labor Code “• and the House under Arroyo has done just that.
The Speaker, in fact, was one of the principal authors of HB 6908 along with 125 other congressmen.
Senator Joel Villanueva said Duterte wrote to Senate President Vicente Sotto III on September 21 requesting the “immediate enactment” of Senate Bill No. 1826 or Security of Tenure Bill.
Speaker Arroyo and Presidential Legislative Liaison Office head Adelino Sitoy have also furnished a copy of the President’s letter.
Once passed into law, the measure would remove the ambiguities in the Labor Code, which is the source of circumventions, and:
Prohibit labor-only contracting, and provide penalties for violation;
Limit job contracting to licensed and specialized services;
Classify workers into regular and probationary employees”•and treat project and seasonal employees as regular employees;
Provide security of tenure;
Clarify standards on probationary employment; and
Provide a “Transition Support Program” for employees while they are not at work or transitioning in between jobs.
President Duterte had tossed to Congress the proposed ban on short-term employment. Instead of signing an EO banning contractualization, he certified as “priority” pending legislation on security of tenure, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said as his “Labor Day gift” to workers.
HB 6908 is an amendment to Presidential Decree No. 442 or the Labor Code of the Philippines.
Bello said the security of tenure bill, if enacted into law, would be better than an EO against endo as the measure carries stricter guidelines and imposes stiffer penalties on violators.
“The House of Representatives already approved the proposed measure while the Senate is just awaiting input from the executive. So the certification from the president will be a signal for the Senate to give it priority,” Bello explained.
