BACOLOD City – Militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno in Negros Island (KMU-Negros) threw shade on President Rodrigo Duterte after he signed an executive order (EO) that prohibits illegal contracting and subcontracting in the country.
KMU-Negros secretary-general Noli Rosales said Duterte only signed the EO to silence the nationwide demand to end “endo.”
Endo, or “end of contract,” only employs individuals for not more than five months, thus preventingtheir regularization on the sixth month as mandated by the Labor Code.
It strips millions of workers of the benefits that the law grants to regular employees.
Rosales said the President’s EO is “not enough” to end contractualization.
Duterte signed the EO in front of labor groups in Cebu City on Tuesday, Labor Day.
Section 2 of the EO reads: “Contracting or subcontracting, when undertaken to circumvent the workers’ right to security of tenure, self-organization, and collective bargaining and peaceful concerted activities pursuant to the 1987 Constitution, is hereby strictly prohibited.”
“I remain firm in my commitment to end ‘endo’ and illegal contractualization,” the President said in his speech.
He added, “I hope that with all that I can do legally, there could be an impact sa inyong reklamong non-security of tenure.”
Security of tenure refers to the right of employees not to be dismissed without just and authorized cause.
But according to Rosales, the prohibitions in Duterte’s EO are already stated in the Labor Code.
“Duterte still fails to fulfill his promise to put to an end on all forms of contractualization,” he said.
Rosales addedthat with the EO in place, members of the Congress might not push through the passage of a law that would really end contractualization in the country.
On the other hand, KMU-Negros conducted a two-day mass demonstration in Negros Occidental from April 30 to May 1.
Three groups started marching from southern, northern and central parts of the province toward the capital city of Bacolod. They then staged a demonstration in front of the Department of Labor and Employment field office. (With a report from CNN Philippines/PN)
