Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque–INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
Will he or won’t he?
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday it was still possible President Rodrigo Duterte would sign an executive order (EO) on contractualization in time for Labor Day on Tuesday.
The final decision on the matter depends on the President’s meeting with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Monday evening, Roque said.
“I can confirm that there might be an EO that may or may not be signed depending on their meeting [Monday night],” Roque said in a press briefing.
The President will spend Labor Day in Cebu City where he is expected to issue an “important” announcement, according to Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod.
Roque said on April 19 that the President would no longer sign an EO on contractualization and would just leave it to Congress to amend the law to put an end to “endo” — the practice of terminating workers after five months to avoid making them into regular employees.
Endo, or end of contract, is a contractualization scheme that offers workers no security of tenure.
Three drafts
Labor groups had been hoping for an EO, but a dispute with business groups on the final wording of the issuance led Malacañang to scrap it.
Business groups also oppose endo but not legal contractualization, which they claim the country needs to make it competitive against its neighbors in the region.
Malacañang had considered three drafts for the EO. One proposed a total prohibition of contractualization, another sought regulation and the third had the same effect, but there was a dispute on the use of the term “principal employer,” Bello said earlier.
The President’s decision to let Congress pass a law on contractualization has disheartened labor groups, which accuse him of reneging on his campaign promise to end endo.
Unkept campaign promise
On the eve of Labor Day, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo expressed dismay over the President’s refusal to keep his promise to end contractualization.
In a statement, Pabillo criticized the continuing endo practice as a “great injustice to workers as it is exploiting their labor without giving them security.”
“He has passed this over to Congress, which is saying it will not happen… I don’t know what promises they will make again. The workers have already lost trust,” the prelate added.
Labor groups hopeful
At least two labor groups, however, remain hopeful that the President will make good on his campaign promise.
“We have been praying for the wisdom and discernment for the President to see what is just and fair for endo workers,” said Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson for Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).
Tanjusay said the group’s optimism sprang from reports that there was a make-or-break meeting between the President and Bello on Monday evening.
If the President signs the EO drafted by business and employers’ groups, Tanjusay said, “he will be forever condemned. Nobody would believe him anymore.”
But if the President chose to keep quiet or seek to merge the two contrasting drafts and came up with a hybrid EO, the people and the working class will perceive him to be a compromised leader, he added.
Job fairs
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) also expressed optimism that Mr. Duterte would sign an EO in favor of workers.
As part of the Labor Day festivities, the Department of Labor and Employment said 143,085 vacant positions would be up for grabs at 37 job and livelihood fairs across the country on Labor Day.
There are 58,171 jobs available for local employment while 89,914 jobs are for overseas employment, with 1,099 participating employers, according to the labor department.
The President is expected to grace in Cebu City a job fair that would offer 17,000 jobs in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. —Reports from Leila B. Salaverria, Tina G. Santos and Julie M. Aurelio In Manila; and Morexette Marie B. Erram, Benjie Talisic asnd Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas