Duterte is workers’ enemy, says Hontiveros on vetoed Security of Tenure bill

FILE – Thousands of workers gather at Mendiola in Manila to mark Labor Day, demanding government to heed their plea and uphold their rights. INQUIRER.NET / GABRIEL PABICO LALU

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to veto the Security of Tenure bill shows he has decided to side against the Filipino workers, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Friday.

“The President who fashioned himself as the so-called defender of the working class has been fully exposed as their enemy,” Hontiveros said in a statement, adding that his decision to veto the bill was “not surprising.”

Duterte officially vetoed the proposed measure on Friday after Malacañang backtracked on its earlier announcement.

READ: It’s official: Duterte vetoes Security of Tenure bill

The proposed law seeks to end the labor contracting scheme. It was also supposed to lapse into law on Saturday, July 27, if not yet acted upon.

Hontiveros said that from the start, Duterte’s promise to end contractualization under his terms was “wimpish and wishy-washy.”

“After he made a bold promise during the campaign that he would eliminate contractual labor, his administration issued several toothless department and executive orders,” she said.

She added that the President’s reason to veto the bill in order to protect capital and management, as well as the long-term interest of labor was “laughable,” saying that the bill was not even “at full strength.”

“It would have been acceptable if the President had vetoed the measure because it is insufficient in defending workers from labor contractualization and asked Congress to pass a better version of the law,” Hontiveros said.

“Yet, he quashed it because he thought it was remarkably biased to the workers.”

Despite this, Hontiveros promised that she would continue the fight to pass a law that would “genuinely promote regular employment and end labor contractualization in the country.”

“With the help of different labor groups, advocates and like-minded legislators, we will accomplish what is difficult,” she said./ac