Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III doesn’t share the confidence of labor groups that a pending executive order (EO) meant to stop contractualization—popularly known in the country as endo—will really serve its much-hyped purpose.
This, Bello said, is because while the EO’s provisions will effectively restrict contractualization in the country, the labor department’s 575 labor inspectors will be insufficient to check the compliance of the private firms.
“It is expected to stop contractualization, but again, an order is an order…the problem is in its implementation. The reality is there are about 900,000 business establishments in the Philippines…We only have 570 [inspectors],” Bello said during a press conference on Monday at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) main office in Intramuros, Manila.
He said they requested for additional budget so they can hire an additional 2,000 labor inspectors to address this problem, but the plea was turned down by Congress.
The DOLE is currently augmenting its limited pool of labor inspectors by designating members of the labor groups, employer organizations and other labor stakeholders as deputized inspectors.
Bello issued the statement with the expected meeting between President Duterte and
labor groups this month on the contractualization EO.
“Last time I talked to the President, he said there will be a meeting with labor groups before Holy Week or immediately after Holy Week. So anytime now,” Bello said. “Maybe during the meeting it will already be signed.”
As of Monday, the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), one of the participants in Duterte’s previous meetings with labor groups, said it has yet to receive the schedule for the said meeting. “Until now, we are still waiting for the final date of the meeting,” FFW President Sonny G. Matula said.
Once implemented, the EO is anticipated to help in significantly reducing the number of local contractual workers, which the DOLE estimates may comprise 30 percent to 40 percent of the country’s 40 million work force. Among the salient points of the draft EO is a provision enabling the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to decide which positions could be contracted out.
It is part of the DOLE’s ongoing drive against the prevalence of contractualization. Since the DOLE initiated the campaign, over 130,000 contractual workers were regularized.
The DOLE is targeting to regularize 300,000 contractual workers this year.
Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra admitted this in a media briefing, noting that it’s up to the legislative branch to act on the substantial amendments on the end to contractualization.
Guevarra noted that for a total ban on contractualization to take place, a law is needed to repeal or amend that particular provision on the Labor Code.
“An executive order is meant only to supplement, all right, or to, you know, give the details, implementing details, of what the law provides. But it cannot add or subtract or substantially alter what the law provides. That’s really more for Congress to do. So, I hope you will understand the limitations of an executive order,” Guevarra said.
If ever a contractualization EO is issued by the Office of the President, Guevarra said it would just be more on the strict enforcement of the existing provisions of the law.
“Because an executive order cannot alter what the law provides. So what the law provides strictly will be implemented under that EO. If there were more safeguards that need to be put in place, that will be done under an EO,” he said.
There were three draft proposals currently being harmonized under one EO. These proposals are from the labor groups, the DOLE and the Office of the President.
Asked on how the EO would be different from the existing DOLE orders calling for stricter regulations for contractual laborers, Guevarra said there’s not much difference.
“Because the substantial provision, they can’t do much about it. They can only do something about implementation, strict implementation of what we already have,” he said. Labor groups have long been hoping to put a stop to contractualization in the country, pinning their hopes on the President’s campaign promise that he will put an end to it.
However, after several meetings with the President, an EO has not been signed still. Guevarra denied that they are already putting a death sentence to what has long been advocated by labor groups.
“Not a death sentence. The Executive can make that, you know, an initiative—can have the initiative in making that proposal and pushing for it in Congress,” he said.
Pressed on whether they have already spoken with leaders in the House and Senate on how to deal with this issue, Guevarra said they have not done it yet, as they are still trying to their best to come up with an EO that can be acceptable to the labor sector.
“That is where our priority is; if the labor sector is still unhappy with an EO that we can come up with, then that’s the time that we’ll probably do our consultations with Congress,” he said.
1 comment
And of course, those of us who’ve lived in the PH long enough know that this labor inspectors cannot be trusted…. As one old Chinese tycoon love to say: “walang Pinoy na hindi nababayaran.”