Robredo: Vow of stopping ‘endo’ will not be just lip service

Vice President Leni Robredo. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Her promise to put a stop to “endo” or the so-called “end of contract” labor practice, which is detrimental to workers, would not be just lip service, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Friday.

During a press conference about her labor platform if she is elected president in 2022, Robredo was asked how her promise to end contractualization schemes would differ from President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements — given that he also made a similar campaign promise that remains undone.

In response, Robredo said that her track record would be an assurance that her words are not empty promises.

“Hindi lang sa isyung ito, pero lahat ng issues. Ang parating assurance kasi ay track record, eh. Ang parating assurance ay track record,” she said.

(It’s not only with this issue, but other issues as well.  The assurance is our track record.  It will always be the assurance.)

According to Robredo, it is easy to make promises — as all of them aspiring for the presidency have taken on a pro-poor, pro-labor force approach to their platforms.

However, she stressed that it would largely differ on how they have actually worked towards that agenda before they get elected to the presidency.

“Lahat kami magsasabi na kontra kami korapsyon; lahat kami magsasabi mahal namin ‘yung mga mahihirap; lahat kami magsasabi, aasikasuhin namin ‘yung mga magsasaka.  Pero ang pinaka-assurance noong hindi pa kami kandidato, ano ‘yung ginagawa namin? Nung hindi pa kami kandidato, asan kami nakatayo?” she asked.

(All of us say we’re against corruption, all of us say we love the poor, that we’ll attend to the needs of farmers.  But the assurance you can get is what we did when we were not yet candidates, what did we do about it?  When we were not yet candidates, were did we stand?)

“Kasi madali lang, madali lang kasi mag-promise, eh. At tingin ko, hindi nagkakaiba– hindi nagkakalayo pala, hindi nagkakalayo ‘yung mga promises namin. Pero ‘yung assurance doon papaano mo ito pinaglaban noong hindi ka pa kandidato?” she added.

(Because it’s easy to make promises, and I think our promises are not really far from what other camps say.  But the assurance here is how you fought for it when you were not yet a candidate.)

Robredo was also asked about what she would do to ensure that endo and other unfair labor practices are ended — to which she said that passing the Security of Tenure bill and ensuring that the Labor Code of the Philippines is enforced.

“Malinaw kasi sa Labor Code of the Philippines kung ano ‘yong puwede, ano ‘yong hindi. Puwede ‘yong job contracting, pero bawal ‘yung labor-only contracting. So sisiguraduhin natin na malinaw na sinusunod ito,” she said.

(The Labor Code of the Philippines is clear on what practices are allowed, and what are not.  Job contracting is okay, but labor-only contracting is not allowed.  So we would ensure that this is clear so it would be followed.)

“Kasi ‘yung– ’yung labor-only contracting kaya siya bawal kasi ‘di ba ‘yung labor-only contracting, nagre-recruit ka lang mga empleyado, nagre-recruit ka lang ng mga empleyado wala ka ngang kapital para asikasuhin sila, parang ahente ka lang, so hindi nagiging malinaw ‘yung employer-employee relationship,” she explained.

(Because labor-only contracting, the reason why it is banned is because you are recruiting employees without having the capacity to attend to them, you are acting like a client, so it is not clear what the employer-employee relation is.)

Early into the press conference, Robredo presented her “Hanapbuhay para sa Lahat” which seeks to provide jobs and help small businesses in order to strengthen the economy.

The five-point plan focuses on making the public trust the government again, strengthening local industries, ending job discrimination, helping micro, small, medium enterprises, and job provision.

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JPV