DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay said the “end of contract” culture that has resulted in the loss of permanent jobs in the country is not allowed under the law.
During the presidential debate at the University of Pangasinan on Sunday, Binay, along with other presidential candidates, was asked by contractual worker Carlos how he plans to end the contractualization of labor.
Carlos said he had switched jobs from bagger to waiter serving for only five months each after his contract ended.
Binay walked from the podium to go near Carlos to assure him that he should have filed a case against his employers for violating his labor rights.
Binay said he once served as a lawyer for laborers.
“Yung problema mo kasi, may sinasabing job only, bawal po ‘yun sa simula’t simula… Bawal ‘yung ginawa sa’yo, hindi ka na dapat tinanggal pagdating ng limang buwan, pagpasok mo pa lang permanente ka na sana. Naghabla ka sana,” Binay said.
“Pero gayumpaman, ang endo ay bawal nga yan (Endo is not legal),” he added.
READ: PH nurses unite to fight contractualization
Binay also vowed to help the contractual worker by scrapping the income tax for middle income earners of P30,000 and below.
“Habang ikaw ay walang trabaho, magagamit mo naman ang savings mo, kasi hindi ko na bababaan, tatanggalin ko ang income tax. Ang sweldo mo, P10,000, eh wala ka nang babayarang income tax, ‘yun ang magagamit mo habang ikaw ay naghahanap ng trabaho,” Binay said.
Binay had proposed the following compensatory measures to plug in the massive P30-billion revenue hole to be brought about by scrapping the 32 percent income tax: the sale of government assets and the privatization of a number of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs); approval of revenue-generating measures, including Fiscal Incentives Rationalization; fuel marking to fight oil smuggling; and continued improvement in tax administration and collection efficiency.
The Binay camp also said the estimated P30-billion loss from exempting the lower income earners from taxes would be offset by cracking down on smuggling which cheats government hundreds of billions a year.
Binay said at least P230 billion per year is lost from agricultural products smuggling, P30 billion from oil smuggling, and P12 billion from tobacco smuggling. IDL
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