Senator Koko Pimentel III on Tuesday reiterated the urgency of passing an “anti-endo” law, saying a measure banning the hiring of workers for fixed-term arrangements or end of contract (“endo”) schemes should be considered “highest priority” before the May 2019 elections.
“Ensuring job security is one of the goals of the current administration. A law, a legal safeguard protecting workers from unreasonable job contractualization should be in place at the soonest possible time.”
Pimentel is one of the principal authors of Senate Bill 1826 or the “Security of Tenure and End of Endo Act of 2018,” which was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte last September 2018.
The President likewise signed Executive Order 51 prohibiting illegal contracting in workplaces in May last year.
“According to figures from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), there are around 200,000 listed contractual workers in the private sector, which I think is a conservative estimate compared to the actual numbers,” the lawmaker noted.
“A law, a legal safeguard protecting workers from unreasonable job contractualization should be in place at the soonest possible time.”
Pimentel added that contractualization was not limited to the private sector, pointing out that out of 2.4 million public sector employees, 592,162 are under job order (JO) contracts and contract of services (COS) or memorandum of agreement (MOA), and do not enjoy job security and benefits.
“It’s obvious from the various employment figures in and outside of government that job contractualization is an issue that needs to be addressed soonest since this runs counter to constitutional guarantees to security of tenure,” said the lawyer.
In a radio interview earlier on Monday, Pimentel acknowledged that ending “endo” was one of the commitments of the President that the Legislature had yet to deliver.
“A law, a legal safeguard protecting workers from unreasonable job contractualization should be in place at the soonest possible time.”
“Lawmaking takes time. Isa sa mga hindi pa naibigay ay ang anti-endo. Dapat tuparin natin ang pangakong ito ng Pangulo para sa kapakanan ng ating mga manggagawa.” (Lawmaking takes time. One of the things that has not been delivered is anti-endo. We must fulfill this promise of the President for the benefit of our workers).