Koko vows to prioritize law on 'endo'
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III vowed that the law on end-of-contract or "endo" would be prioritized once the Senate resumes session this month.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier signed an executive order which prohibits "illegal contracting or subcontracting or undertaking to circumvent the workers' right to security of tenure."
Pimentel welcomed the executive order and said that he would make sure that a law on the matter would be passed as soon as possible.
"A law may be needed as the executive order can be easily overturned by another President. A law will make it more difficult to reverse what has been done by the EO," Pimentel said in a statement.
The Senate leader noted that ending contractualization was among the key promises of Duterte during his campaign in 2016.
"Ending endo will empower our workers and improve their quality of life," Pimentel said.
In his speech during a Labor Day event in Cebu City, Duterte urged the Congress to enact a law amending the Labor Code, which he deemed "outdated."
Duterte said that a mere EO would not be enough to ensure security of tenure.
"I can only implement but if there are things that need to be corrected, modified to suit the needs or the demand of time... We have to amend or correct or recommend revision or revisit the laws," Duterte said.
A lawmaker, meanwhile, said that Duterte's order against endo merely spelled out what was already stated in the Labor Code.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said that labor groups were hoping for an EO that would outright put an end to contractualization. Duterte's order only prohibits "illegal contracting."
"This is not the executive order they expected. They were expecting the President will issue a pronouncement that once and for all, job contractualization must be outlawed," Zarate told ANC's Early Edition.
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