Duterte: Ending contractualization not within my power

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday admitted his hands are tied on the issue of ending contractualization in the country.

“Read my lips. I understand that this does not satisfy all sectors. I share their sentiments. I truly do,” Duterte said during his third State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

“Much as I would like to do the impossible, that power is not vested upon me by the Constitution and neither will I make both ends meet if I violate the laws to achieve that purpose. Simply it is not part of my territory.”

Duterte then renewed his call for Congress to pass legislation of ending the practice of contractualization “once and for all.”

Duterte signed on May 1 Executive Order 51 prohibiting the illegal contracting and sub-contracting of workers. He said the campaign against “endo” has resulted in the regularization of 300,000 workers.

Labor groups such as the Kilusang Mayo Uno wanted more, saying the President should have signed an EO that bans all forms of contractualization.

The decades-old Labor Code allows the contractualization scheme. — RSJ, GMA News