THOUGH they lauded the proposal of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to certify the Security of Tenure Bill as urgent, a local labor group is pessimistic if President Rodrigo Duterte would sign this bill ending contractualization into a law.
General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa) secretary-general Wennie Sancho, also the labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board - Western Visayas, yesterday said it must be recalled that the President vetoed the bill in July 2019.
The “Endo” bill, also referred to as the Security of Tenure bill, is currently pending at the Senate.
“The labor group avers that this is a political move to appease the workers who were disgruntled when President Duterte reneged from his campaign promise to end contractualization, only the Congress can override the veto power of the President,” he said.
Bello, in a virtual press briefing on Monday, July 19, said that in order to make it move, they are requesting the President to certify this bill “so that once and for all, the issue of endo or end-of-contract labor scheme can be put to an end.
“So hopefully this coming, the last session, it will be given attention under the aegis of President Duterte,” he added.
In Negros Occidental, various labor groups have been calling for massive action in the fight against contractualization, which they considered to be a continuing plight of poor workers in the country.
Meanwhile, Gawa said they do not expect much on the sixth and last State of the Nation Address (Sona) of the President on July 26.
Its secretary-general said “he [Duterte] might start again with the usual threatening rhetoric to berate his critics and political opponents. He will again subject the workers to lip service and flattery but these are words that flow out from the mouth of a politician.”
His Sona, Sancho said, will summarize his justifications on the issue of the West Philippine Sea and his running as a candidate for vice president in the next election.
“The President will try to put up a good show during his Sona, but there will be no change in our miserable economic conditions amid the pandemic,” he added.