President defends veto of SOT bill

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday defended his controversial veto of the security of tenure bill, saying the measure should protect not only laborers but also employers’ “security of capital.”

In a situation briefing in Basco, Batanes province, the President spoke for the first time in public following his decision to reject the measure he certified as urgent in 2018.

“I might resubmit it, but let me just introduce something that would level off the … If you insist on it, it would be bad. A lazy fellow has work, would be absent. And when you fire him, he will go to the National Labor Relations Commission, he will go back to work,” the President said.

He added: “It should not be like, they are poor so they should be given this. This is a democracy.” —Julie M. Aurelio