Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez vowed to prioritize the interest of investors and their preferred employment scheme in the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) review of the draft executive order (EO) outlawing contractualization.
Lopez told the BusinessMirror he just got a copy of the draft EO transmitted by labor groups to President Duterte and is now in the process of reviewing it. He, however, was quick to say he will go for whatever will make the country more attractive to foreign investors.
Lopez also stood his ground and said talks on a total ban on contractualization is all “nonsense” if it will cause investment pledges to go down, which he claimed will further burden the labor sector.
He also told workers what they need is not an EO against contractualization, but an increase in productivity, a “work-centered mind-set” and personal development to be regularized.
“We just got a copy of the draft EO, and [it is] undergoing review, but what we know is that legitimate labor contracting is allowed in the Labor Code. It is prohibited when it is undertaken to circumvent existing law, specifically workers’ right to security of tenure,” the DTI chief said.
He also said “the DTI has always been of the position that what is important is we encourage and attract investors so that our country can generate more jobs.” Without the proper flexibility given to employers, he argued it will cost the country investment pledges and job opportunities, as well.
“We have presented before a solution that will make workers still permanent and enjoying the benefits of regular status, even at the contractor side, as long as the business has the option to contract and outsource. This is the model done in other countries,” Lopez said.
Labor groups last February held a dialogue with President Duterte to once again convince him to approve their draft EO prohibiting contractualization. The President once again delayed his decision on whether to sign the order, and asked for more time to assess the radical labor-policy reform.
It was the second time Duterte left labor groups hanging, as a previous draft EO“submitted by labor groups” banning all forms of contractual employment also gathered dust in Malacañang.
The prohibition of contractualization was one of the President’s campaign promises that enabled him to earn the support of labor groups during the elections.
In a separate text message to reporters, the trade chief said an EO cannot and will not change the legality of contractualization. “We wish to pursue [the] position that legitimate contractualization is allowed by the Labor Code, that it is legal and that an EO cannot change that.”
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza