Sa paggunita ng Araw ng Paggawa, pinirmahan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte nitong Martes ang isang executive order na nagbabawal sa illegal contracting o subcontracting, at magpapalakas sa security of tenure ng mga manggagawa.
“More than a century has passed since the very first Labor Day was celebrated and yet the struggle for a better life for our beloved workers continue. I assure you that this government will never cease to provide the Filipino worker with full, dignified, and meaningful employment,” pahayag ng pangulo sa kaniyang talumpati.
“They deserve no less than decent and comfortable life,” dagdag ni Duterte.
Sa isang pahayag, sinabi ng Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) na susunod ang pribadong sektor sa direktiba.
“We have to live with it,” sabi ni ECOP president Donald Dee sa GMA News Online.
Sa hiwalay na panayam, sinabi ni Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chair Renato Magtubo na hindi kinunsulta ang grupo ng mga manggagawa tungkol sa naturang EO.
“Nagulat po kami diyan at we felt taken for a ride. Parang nagoyo kami,” pahayag ni Magtubo sa panayam ng GMA News TV “Balitanghali.”
“We were taken for a ride after so much dialog—two years, ibang drafts, wala man lang konsultasyon kung pipirmahan o hindi, tapos mayroong EO,” dagdag niya.
Samantala, inatasan ni Duterte ang Department of Labor and Employment na isumite ang listahan ng mga kompanya na sangkot sa "labor only contracting."
“Your days are numbered. I have warned you before and I have warned you again. Stop ‘endo’ and illegal contracting. I will see to it that the laws are strongly enforced,” babala ng pangulo.
Iginiit din ni Duterte na tapat siya sa kaniyang ipinangako noong panahon ng kampanya na wakasan ang "endo" at illegal contractualization. Gayunman, aminado siya na kailangan ang Kongreso para baguhin ang umiiral na Labor Code.
“I believe, in order to implement an effective and lasting solution to the problems brought about by contractualization, Congress needs to enact a law amending the Labor Code,” paliwanag niya.
“It’s outdated. I think, Congress should come up with a new Labor Code to keep it attuned to the realities of our time. I could only do so much and a mere executive order can only do so much because you have to change or modify or entirely aggregate some of the provisions,” sabi ng pangulo.
Sabi pa ni Duterte, makatutulong ang EO para mabawasan ang problema pero nasa Kongreso ang pangmatagalang solusyon.
“I cannot be a legislator. It is not allowed, but I can only implement because there are laws already and ang aking EO would help a lot in alleviating the problem,” saad niya.
“A mere EO is not enough… the bill on security of tenure [can] once and for all address the issue and provide long term solution to further strengthen the workers right to security of tenure,” dagdag ng pangulo.
Ayon kay Magtubo, hindi pa niya nababasa ang EO ng pangulo, bagaman ang nais ng kanilang grupo ay alisin ang subcontracting.
“Hinihingi namin sa EO namin na the administration should have a quality of direct hiring as a norm in employment relationship,” aniya. “Bukas naman tayong pag-usapan ‘yung mga labor contractive practices or jobs and functions na pwedeng contract out per industry. I-subject natin sa consultation sa National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council.”— FRJ, GMA News
