Palace powerless to ban ‘endo’ in PH – official

Malacañang admitted on Monday that it is powerless in enforcing a ban on contractual work arrangements in the country, noting that an Executive Order (EO) is not enough to enforce a total ban on contractualization.

Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said lawmakers should amend the Labor Code to abolish contractualization. The elimination of contractualization is one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s main campaign promises in the 2016 national elections.

“That draft EO has been under study in our office for quite some time. The main problem there is iyong mga gustong mangyari ay (what they want to happen is) something that the executive department is not empowered to do, kailangan legislative action talaga (it really needs a legislative action),” Guevarra said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“Because Labor Code iyan eh, nandoon iyong provisions against contractualization but allowing for some, in some areas,” he added.

In February, Duterte asked labor groups to give him more time to study the proposed EO aiming to abolish the labor scheme.

READ: Duterte to labor leaders: No to abolition of ‘endo’ for now

Guevarra explained that Congress needs to repeal or amend certain parts of the Labor Code, particularly the provision that exempts certain industries from making contractual work arrangements.

According to Guevarra, the proposed EO is based on the suggested versions of the Office of the President, Department of Labor and Employment, and some labor groups.

The EO could only make compliance with the existing regulations very strict, and supplement existing rules and regulations.

“Kung merong (If there’s any) more safeguards that need to [be] put in place, iyon ang gagawin (that will be done) under an EO,” Guevarra noted.

Guevarra also disclosed that the Executive department has not yet tackled the issue with members of Congress even after two years into Duterte’s term.

“We are still trying to do our best to come up with an Executive Order that can be acceptable to the labor sector. That is our priority,” he said.

“Kung talagang unhappy pa rin ang labor sector (If the labor sector is still unhappy) with an EO… the best EO that we can come up with. Then, that’s the time that we’ll probably do our consultations with Congress,” he added.                     /kga