Press Release
July 26, 2019

Statement of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on the President's decision to veto the anti-"endo" bill

We regret it. The bill was certified as urgent by the President and thus, in the 17thCongress, the Senate worked hard to pass a balanced bill that would protect the welfare of the workers while maintaining the stability of businesses.

Our workers have waited for two decades to finally have legislation that would prohibit illegal company practices of contractualization and provide them with security of tenure. They came into 2016 with very high hopes that the practice would be prohibited. Now, we are back to square one.

The bill can be refiled but the executive must first get its act together. We have frontline departments (DOLE and NEDA) with opposing views. We are unclear as to what the policy is.

The bill passed by Congress essentially mirrors DOLE's position but apparently the NEDA has a different one - which was eventually concurred in by the President. With the veto message, it seems like the policy direction has been set. Any attempt to refile the bill could be an exercise in futility without the administration's support.

Having said that, I've mentioned in the past that the DOLE can prohibit contractualization even without amending the Labor Code, if indeed, the administration wants to end "endo".

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