Villanueva to prioritize passage of ‘end of endo’ law

SEN. Joel Villanueva, heeding a mounting clamor for Congress to frontload passage of remedial legislation affecting the labor sector, signaled his priority bills include a National Employment Strategy and the “end of endo” also known as the “end of contract” arrangement.

Villanueva reminded Monday the enabling legislation was intended to decisively outlaw endo.

The senator confirmed the awaited legislation was filed along with the first 20 of his priority bills for the 19th Congress to continue his advocacy and fulfill his campaign promises of job creation and security.

“For our second term,” Villanueva assured that “our job in the Senate is still jobs,” affirming that “we are pushing for job opportunities and job security through these proposed laws to strengthen our nation against poverty and any crisis.”

The senator added: “Among our [Villanueva’s] top priority bills is the ‘Trabaho Para Sa Lahat ng Pilipino Act’ that establishes the National Employment Action Plan to set the government’s direction for job creation. The National Employment Action Plan will also continue the objectives of the National Employment Recovery Strategy [NERS] that is currently being implemented by the NERS Task Force headed by the Department of Trade and Industry,” he added.

At the same time, Sen. Villanueva recalled that “since the NERS sets its targets only up to this year, we aim to extend it and transform it into the National Employment Action Plan to go beyond the target of creating 2 million jobs for the next few years. Job creation should be sustained based on the prevailing socioeconomic trends while facing any crisis.”

Moreover, the senator assured that his office is also prioritizing the end of endo or the Security of Tenure Act for workers in the private sector, “We have been fighting for the passage of the Security of Tenure Act into law since 2016. Although it was vetoed, it went through rigorous and comprehensive consultations with all concerned sectors so that both workers and employers stand equally in the proposed law. This is already long overdue, which is why we will be working with the Department of Labor and Employment, National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Finance, workers groups, business associations, and other sectors for the passage of the End of Endo Act into law,” he added.