Villanueva vows to make ‘balanced legislation’ to end contractualization

Sen. Joel Villanueva. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Sen. Joel Villanueva vowed on Wednesday to come up as soon as possible with a “balanced legislation” to stop the end of contract scheme, or “endo,” following a colleague’s call on the Senate leadership not to sweep the issue under the rug.

Villanueva is chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources Development, which is tasked with deliberating on the measure that seeks to end the practice of labor contractualization.

“The Labor Committee is still preparing the Committee Report and is still actively consulting various stakeholders on their stand on this issue,” he said in a text message. “We are also coordinating with the counterpart Committee in the House to ensure that there will be little, if any, conflicting provisions between the Senate and House versions.”

“The Labor Committee recognizes the importance of addressing Endo and is committed to coming up with a balanced legislation the soonest possible time,” Villanueva added.

The senator issued the statement when sought for a reaction to the call of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon for the Senate leadership to take a stand on the issue and not just weep it under the rug.

“I call on the Senate leadership to come out with a position on this issue because this is a policy issue,” Drilon said at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay in Malate, Manila. “The matter of labor-only contracting is in the Labor Code, and if we wish to revise this, this is a division in policy and in implementation of the law.”

“It’s about time that Senate President [Aquilino] Pimentel should take a close look at this and take a position,” the minority leader added. “Hindi pupwedeng we’d just keep on sweeping this under the rug.” /atm