Lacson: No word from Malacañang what it wanted from Anti-Endo Bill

BOGO CITY, Cebu — Presidential candidate and Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said that the Senate had asked Malacañang to reconcile the questionable provisions in the vetoed Anti-Endo Bill, but received no response from the Palace.

The lawmaker made the remark when asked to react to acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar's statement that President Rodrigo Duterte hopes that Congress "would rectify the vetoed provisions" of the anti-endo measure, and that the President "remains committed to eradicating all forms of abusive employment practices and protecting the workers' right to security of tenure."

Andanar said that in 2018, Duterte issued Executive Order No. 51, which strictly prohibits contracting or subcontracting undertaken to circumvent the worker’s right to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining, and peaceful concerted activities.

"We want to find out [the provisions] so Congress can adjust kung ano ang [what are the] shortcomings doon sa bill na in-approve...then na-veto [in the bill that was approved]," Lacson told reporters in an ambush interview.

"Even beyond the veto message, dapat sabihin ng Malacañang 'Ito ang kulang. Ito ang gusto namin' [Malacañang should specify what they want], but there was no response. Tinanong ni [Senate President Vicente Sotto III] 'yun. 'Ano ba ang gusto niyo dito para i-adjust namin [What do you want so we could adjust] but there was no response from the economic managers," he disclosed.

Although he said the Senate is willing to rectify the questionable provisions in the proposed bill against contractualization, Lacson said there might be no time in the 18th Congress.

At a campaign rally in Argao, Cebu, Lacson's running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that the problem of contractualization persists because Duterte vetoed the bill that Congress passed.

The Security of Tenure bill eliminates subcontracting of labor, limits job contracting to licensed and specialized services, and treats project and seasonal employees as regular employees.

Several business groups had urged Duterte to veto the bill, claiming that signing it into law could lead to job losses and affect the economy.

Meanwhile, Lacson said the government must ensure the recovery of micro, small, and medium enterprises and the skills-matching program to address the problem of unemployment.

"Buhayin ang MSMEs kasi yun talaga ang biggest supplier ng labor. 'Yun ang unang bumagsak so kailangan buhayin," Lacson said when asked about the 3.13 million jobless Filipinos reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

(Let's revive the MSMEs because that is the biggest supplier of labor. That is the first industry that was affected. That's why we need to ensure their recovery.)

The presidential candidate then highlighted the lack of information about the available assistance from the government to help the small businesses.

"May mga available ng mga financial institutions, mga assistance... nandiyan sa budget. Hindi naman binibigyan ng information ang mga affected paano mag-access sa loans, sa mga assistance yun ang problema," he added.

(There are available financial institutions, assistance under the budget but the affected ones were not informed. How can they access these loans and assistance?)

Apart from that, Lacson said his administration will also prioritize a skills-matching program to ensure that even persons with disabilities and senior citizens will also have employment opportunities.

"Kasama sa program namin skills -matching kaya nga kailangan mag-digitalize tayo. Paano natin ma-a-accomplish ang skills-matching kung hindi tayo magdi-digitalize? 'Di ba ang digitalization even the PWD, even the senior citizens, hindi mo na titignan ang status sa buhay, tinitignan mo ano bang skills nya para mag match sa particular requirements sa labor," Lacson said.

(Part of our program is skills-matching that is why we need to digitalize. How can we accomplish this skills-matching program if we will not digitalize? Once we are digitalized, we will not look at the status in life of the Filipinos, even the PWD and the senior citizens can have the same opportunities because their skills will be matched to the particular labor requirements.) — BM, GMA News