Drilon on ‘endo’ measure: Get Palace committment first

MANILA, Philippines — The new version of the security of tenure (SOT) bill should have Malacañang’s full commitment to save it from being vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte again, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Friday (Aug. 8).

“We should secure Malacanang’s commitment that a new version of endo bill will not be vetoed. It will be a futile exercise to revive it without that commitment,” Drilon said in a statement.

The senator also proposed that the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) also agree on one version of the bill.

Drilon noted that the two departments have opposing views on the matter. He added that the previous bill passed by Congress, which was eventually vetoed by Duterte, carried Dole’s position that differed from Neda.

Two weeks after Duterte vetoed the SOT bill, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Wednesday (Aug. 6) that Dole is crafting a reconsolidated version of the anti-illegal labor contractualization bill, which  includes a provision that will give “bigger” authority to the department.

READ: DOLE drafting new anti-endo bill; to seek ‘bigger authority’ – Bello

“There is a bipartisan support for the anti-endo bill, so its passage is almost a guarantee insofar as the Senate is concerned,” Drilon said.

He then asked: “However, the question is: will it be signed into law or will it suffer the same fate?”

“I am less optimistic that an endo bill is possible without Congress getting Malacanang’s full support. Let’s face it, it is the President who holds the veto pen. Therefore, it is critical that for measures as important as the endo bill that we must secure the full support of Malacanang,” Drilon said./tsb