The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides for the duty of State to protect workers’ rights and ensure fair working conditions. Article II, Section 9 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution pronounces that, “The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.”
Section 18 of the same Article of the 1987 Philippine Constitution also states that “The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare. “Likewise, Article XIII, Section 3, paragraph 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution proclaims that “They [workers] shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work and a living wage.”
Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on March 19, 2018, filed House Bill (HB) 7415, which seek to prohibit all forms of labor contractualization in the public sector, provide security of tenure and civil service eligibility to all non-regular employees who have worked continuously for at least six months in the government.
The Makabayan bloc consists of seven members: Party-list Reps. Arlene Brosas and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela, Antonio Tinio and France Castro of ACT Teachers, Rep. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna, Rep. Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis and Rep. Sarah Elago of Kabataan.
The government offices covered in the bill include national government agencies, local government units, state universities and colleges, government-owned and-controlled corporation, and all other government instrumentalities. A similar measure, which seeks to strengthen the security of tenure of workers in the private sector, has been approved on final reading. The Explanatory Notes to HB 7415, cites the following rationale for the bill:
“In the public sector, according to the Inventory of Government Human Resources as of July 1, 2016, there are 721,282 contract of service [COS], job orders [JOs], casual and contractual workers out of the 2,301,191 government employees. This figure is more than twice the 282,586 contractual workers in the public sector in 2008. Top agencies in 2016 with most number of JOs and COS include the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD], Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation and Department of Education.
“Contractualization is so prevalent that non-regular workers comprise a significant portion of the government’s work force. From around 10 percent non-regular employees in the 1990s, the contractuals comprise more than 31 percent of the government employees in 2016.
“In the DSWD alone in 2013, contractual workers comprise 20,480 out of the total 25,589 employees, or 81.44 percent of the agency work force.”
“In another case, in the country’s premier public tertiary school, University of the Philippines, in 2012, 44 percent of the employees are contractual. In the University of the Philippines—Philippine General Hospital as of January 2018, 1,614 out of 4,461 health workers or 36.18 percent are contractual, job-order, casual or temporary workers.
“Labor contractualization blatantly violates the worker’s right to security of tenure. Many of the contractual workers have worked for 20 years or more and were made to perform regular agency functions, yet were never regularized.”
“Aside from having no security of tenure, contractual workers have no or lower benefits, no social insurance protection, no right to self-organization, no promotion opportunities, have higher withholding taxes, and become targets of discrimination at work.
“Yet, to the disappointment and rage of workers in the private sector, the Department of Labor and Employment on March 16, 2017, issued Department Order 174-17 ‘Rules Implementing Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code as Amended,’ which, according to many labor groups, supposedly prohibits labor-only contracting but still allows job contracting, thus further promoting and legitimizing contractual-employment schemes.”
“The Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit and Department of Budget and Management followed suit with the issuance of Joint Circular 1, s.2017 on June 15, 2017, regarding ‘Rules and Regulations Governing Contract of Service and Job Order Workers in the Government.’ Like DO 174, Joint Circular 1 further legitimizes labor contractualization and provides no guarantee for the security of tenure for non-regular workers in the public sector.”
“The joint circular stressed that Jos and COS workers in government agencies have no employee-employer relationship thus have no right to any benefit for government employees. This is despite the court ruling on the MWSS-COS employees case on June 30, 2005, that JOs and COS workers are de-facto employees of the government. Worse, the circular provides that starting from the year 2019, government agencies may only avail of outsource services through institutional contract of service or subcontracting.” (Explanatory Notes, H.B. 7415)
Two years into the Duterte presidency, contractualization remains widespread both in the public and private sector. Hopefully, on Labor Day in May this year, the President will finally make good his promise of ending endo or labor contractualization. Let this be the test of his political will.