Duterte warns ‘labour only contracting’ firms
‘The 30-day deadline is not just for the list, it’s to tell them to comply, otherwise the president will shut you down’
MANOLO B. JARA MANILA: President rodrigo “rody” duterte has ordered a crackdown on “labour only contracting” companies, including their closure for violating the country’s labour laws, his spokesman announced on Friday.
Harry Roque said Duterte ordered Labour and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello to provide him a list of such irms within 30 days, which was to be used as a basis to start the crackdown.
“The 30-day deadline is not just for the list, it’s to tell them to comply, otherwise the president will shut you down,” Roque told Malacanang Palace reporters in a mix of Filipino and English, referring to the companies involved.
Roque explained that labour -only contracting and farming of work is undertaken through a person (known locally as “cabo”) or a group under the guise a labour group or cooperative that supplies workers to an employer.
Such practice is among the forms of employment, which although banned by the country’s labour laws, continues to be practiced by erring companies, according to Roque.
The order followed an announcement on Thursday that Duterte has decided not to issue an executive order prohibiting a labour practice called “end of contract” or “endo,” which was earlier announced as the president’s May 1 or International Labour Day “gift” for Filipino workers.
Instead, Secretary Bello said the president would ask the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass a law, which would be certiied as an urgent administration measure, calling for security of tenure among employees.
“The House has already approved the proposed measure while the Senate is just awaiting input from the executive. So, the certiication from the president will be a signal for the Senate to give it priority,” Bello said.
But the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1 Movement) warned it would stage protest rallies in the run-up to the Labor Day activities to dramatize their disappointment over the Duterte decision.
“Duterte’s mockery of filipino workers and of our legitimate demands will never be forgiven. On May 1, International Labor Day, hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers across the country will show their outrage over Duterte’s demands for regular and decent jobs in a nationwide workers’ and people’s protest,” Elmer Labog, the KMU chief, said.