Duterte pushes for compromise in contractualization issue

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday called for compromise amid calls by labor groups for him to fulfill his campaign promise to ban contractualization in the country.

Speaking at the launching of a new shooting range in Davao City, Duterte suggested for the discussion to take into consideration the need to ensure the continued viability of businesses.

"In other countries, be it Hong Kong, America, you work for a certain guy and if he does not like the quality that you produce, you get out, you get paid, separated and that’s it," he said.

"I don’t think that I can really give them all kasi hindi naman natin mapilit ‘yung mga kapitalista na kung walang pera o ayaw nila o tamad. Don’t make it hard for them to run the business the way they like it because that’s their money. So something of a compromise must be, maybe, acceptable to everybody," he added.

Duterte's remarks came after members of Partido Manggagawa and the labor coalition Nagkaisa staged rallies earlier in the day at the offices of the Department of Labor and Employment in some areas of the country calling for the signing of an executive order to abolish contractualization.

"President Duterte won on a campaign platform of abolishing contractualization. Two long years have passed and the promise remains unfulfilled. Duterte criticizes EDSA for its broken promises but his own vow to end endo remains unrealized," PM chairperson and Nagkaisa spokesperson Rene Magtubo said in a statement.

On February 7, Duterte met with different labor groups in Malacañang where he asked for more time to study the proposal to give workers security of tenure, self-organization, collective bargaining, and peaceful concerted activities as mandated by the Constitution.

The meeting also touched on the issues related to contractualization, wage setting, government cash subsidy, workers’ representation in tripartite bodies, recruitment and facilitation fees, and freedom of association in economic zones.

"He's studying the matter (proposed EO) more thoroughly," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing on February 8. —KBK, GMA News