Duterte may yet issue EO on ‘endo’

MALACAÑANG SAID, contrary to President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s earlier pronouncements, that he may still sign the executive order (EO) on labor contractualization depending on the outcome of his meeting with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on the eve of Labor Day.

“I can confirm there might be an EO that may or may not be signed depending on the meeting tonight with Labor Secretary (Silvestre H.) Bello III,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing on Monday.

Labor Undersecretary Joel B. Maglunsod said in a press conference last week that his department is “still open to the possibility” that the EO will be “reconsidered” by Mr. Duterte by “May 1.”

For his part, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay said: “If President Duterte decides to sign an Executive Order on Endo (end of contractualization) today, Labor Day, whose EO on Endo would President Duterte sign? We ardently hope that since it is Labor Day, Mr. Duterte (will sign) the labor-drafted EO.”

“If Mr. Duterte signs the EO drafted by labor leaders, he will be the new modern-day hero to the Filipino working class. On (the other) hand, if he signs the EO drafted by business and employers’ groups, he will be forever condemned. Nobody would believe him anymore,” Mr. Tanjusay said in a statement.

If the President chooses to keep quiet or seek to merge the two contrasting drafts and come up with a hybrid EO, Mr. Tanjusay also said, “the people and the working class will perceive him to be a compromised leader.”

“So, it’s now or never and take it or leave (it) for Mr. Duterte as far as the workers’ sector is concerned,” Mr. Tanjusay added.