Philexport bucks bill on security of tenure

The country’s largest export group has raised concern over the substitute bill on security of tenure and contractualization, saying its provisions support “business-unfriendly labor policies” that threaten to wipe out the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“House Bill (HB) 6908 is promoting business-unfriendly labor policies that will run contrary to government’s objective of inclusive and sustainable growth,” Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) president Sergio OrtizLuis Jr. said.

Philexport’s statement came as the House of Representatives approved on second reading last month HB 6908, which seeks to strengthen the security of tenure of employees in the private sector and address the problems of laboronly contracting and “endo” (end of contract).

Ortiz-Luis said like the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Philexport “strongly objects to the many restrictive provisions” of the bill, particularly as MSMEs “are threatened to be wiped out should the current version of this bill passes.”

“The scenario gets worse considering the millions of direct and indirect workers mostly in the countryside who are dependents of our members,” Ortiz-Luis said.

ECOP president Donald Dee earlier told The STAR his group has “serious problems” with HB 6908 given its detrimental impact to the economy and job creation.

For his part, Ortiz-Luis said Philexport finds that “many provisions in the substitute bill are inconsistent with the fundamental legal and constitutional principles and doctrines on contracting and security of tenure.”

He pointed out that no market in Asia, including China and Vietnam, impose “such arbitrary measures that would suppress job contracting and outsourcing as well as coerce enterprises on pain of penal sanctions, to provide permanent and regular employment for all types of workers, unskilled or unskilled, regardless of the need for their services, whether temporary, casual, contractual or fixed term.”

While a constitutionally guaranteed right of the employees, security of tenure does not mean perpetual employment for the employee, according to Ortiz-Luis.

“This is because our law, while affording protection to the employee, does not authorize oppression or destruction of an employer. It is well settled that the employer has the right or is at liberty to choose who will be hired and who will be denied employment,” he said.

To break the cycle of unemployment and poverty, Ortiz-Luis instead urged the government to put a stop to the overregulation of the labor market as well as provide a friendly policy environment to investment where enterprises can thrive to create wealth and jobs.

“As it is, we do not have enough jobs to absorb qualified people,” he said.

Ortiz-Luis said Filipino MSMEs, in particular, have managed to remain afloat amid economic volatility, primarily because of their flexibility to hire, re-hire, or engage workers, including housewives and workers without the necessary education, training and skills.

It is impractical and costly for the enterprise to maintain workers beyond what it needs, he said.

“The highly competitive trade environment in which MSMEs operate requires just-intime production. Under this setup, it will be a losing proposition to maintain so many number of permanent workers who will be doing nothing on lean months,” Ortiz-Luis said.