MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte justified his decision to veto the Security of Tenure bill, which was submitted by the Congress after he certified it as urgent earlier this year.
Duterte, in a speech in Itbayan, Batanes, said the “anti-endo” measure lacked safeguards for businessmen and capitalists.
“‘Yung sa security of tenure, eh dapat sinunod nila ‘yung usapan,” Duterte said. “‘Yung do not make it hard for the capitalists also to move. Ano ito demokrasya.”
“The security of tenure should also provide a security of the capital. It should not be na kasi mahirap sila bigyan sila ng ano,” he added. “I just want to be fair to both workers and employers.”
Under the vetoed bill, labor contracting was defined as a practice wherein a job contractor “merely recruits and supplies or places workers to a contractee.”
The measure prohibits business entities from hiring workers on a contractual basis.
It requires businesses to directly hire employees, effectively banning the practice of outsourcing workers through manpower agencies. It also wants companies to absorb or regularize all workers.
All employees, including project and seasonal employees except those on probationary status, are entitled to benefits received by regular workers.
Duterte said that “while labor-only contracting must be prohibited, legitimate job-contracting should be allowed” provided the contractor would be “well-capitalized, has sufficient investments and affords its employees all the benefits.”
Curbing labor contractualization was among Duterte’s promises when he assumed presidency in 2016, but the issue was left out of the President’s 4th State of the Nation Address on July 22./PN
