After refiling the Security of Tenure bill, Senator Joel Villanueva made an assurance that he would make the Executive department accountable for the measure, which was recently vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Villanueva also admitted that he had felt bad towards the administration for using it in their campaign propaganda.
“Kasi, hindi naman ata dapat basta ganun na lang,” said Villanueva who added that a hearing on the refiled bill will be a priority in the Senate.
Villanueva said he has never concealed his ill feelings after the bill was vetoed.
“Again, kung sasabihin ko pong hindi tayo nagtatampo at hindi masama ang loob ko, i will be a hypocrite,” he said.
Villanueva said they will invite heads of the concerned agencies on the matter.
“We will definitely invite (Socio Economic Planning) Secretary (Ernesto) Pernia, (Labor) Secretary (Silvestre) Bello III, who Villanueva, said something in a press conference about “not being too fair on the side of the capitalists.”
“We want to find out what Bello means by that statement,” said Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee in labor, “They were with us the whole time, from Day 1, 3 years, kasama sila, nasasabi nila na hindi pupuwede ito, hindi katanggap tanggap ito or ito ay mave-veto kung itutuloy natin,” Villanueva said.
He also noted that no one dared to talk in the past three years about the issue.
“In the SONA the past three years when the President spoke about it, not one of them spoke [on the issue],” Vhe said.
In fact, Villanueva said that as a member or part of the administration in the Senate, he has not been informed or even received a call about the President’s vetoing the bill.
“Wala ho eh, ganun po, kung anong oras nyo nalaman na vineto ganun din po ako,” he said.
Asked when the scheduled hearings will be held, Villanueva said that they have yet to set it, saying that they still have to deal with some minor administration issues in the Senate.
But Villanueva reiterated that the Senate leadership has already assured him that it will be a priority bill since it was no less than Senate President Vicente Sotto III who told him to refile it.
Villanueva said that Senate Bill No. 806 is “exactly the same measure that was certified as a priority and urgent measure by the President” in September 2018.
“Whether it will be prioritized or not, we are going to push for the measure. We are considering this a very important bill so whether it will be prioritized by the administration or not, the Senate leadership spoke that this will be our priority. We are also of course,” said Villanueva.
In the scheduled Senate hearing, Villanueva said they want to hear administration officials, who had recommended to veto the measure, to air their reservations and raise the particular provisions that they wanted to be struck.
He said it is difficult to guess in saying there wasn’t a balance in the bill since it was not in favor of the capitalists.
“So we are looking forward to meeting them, looking forward to their explanations behind it, especially after it was prioritized, it was mentioned in the SONA, it was mentioned by the President during labor events,” Villanueva said.
Duterte had explained that he vetoed the measure in order to protect capital and management, as well as the long-term interests of labor.