Executive order can’t end contractualization – Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte cannot end contractualization through an executive order (EO), as this can only be done through a new law amending the country’s Labor Code, according to Malacañang.

Labor groups have been urging the President to fulfill his campaign promise to end contractual labor and sign the EO that would scrap the practice that employers resort to in order to avoid making workers regular employees.

Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Palace had been studying the draft order on contractualization, but the most it could do was provide for the strict implementation of labor laws. —Leila B. Salaverria