Anakpawis files bill against labor contractualization

MANILA, Philippines -- A labor advocacy party-list has filed a bill at the House of Representatives seeking to abolish labor contractualization, a promise that President Rodrigo Duterte made during the campaign.

 

According to the House of Representatives public relations office, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao has filed a bill that will consider workers and employees of a contractor or subcontractor as employees of the actual employer if the work done is "necessary and desirable for the business of the employer."

 

That means employers who hire contractors and subcontractors will be held responsible for the welfare and benefits of outsourced labor as if they "were directly employed by the said employer or principal," the House pulic relations service said.

 

Casilao said that contractualization -- or hiring workers for short-term contracts or for contracts without employee benefits -- is rampant in the Philippines with 7 of 10 companies implementing "flexible work arrangements". Citing government data, he said that 44 percent of workers are not considered regular employees with 81 percent of workers in the construction sector and 59 percent in quarrying considered contractual labor.

 

During the election campaign, Duterte called the practice of contractualization "anti-people" and said that he would have it stopped.

 

In a summit with business leaders held in Davao City in June, however, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello assured the business sector that they need not fear labor regulations under the Duterte administration.

 

“Regulations will both be strict and equitable. There will be elbow room in their imposition so don’t be afraid,” he said.

 

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez has also said that what Duterte wants to stamp out is the practice of hiring workers for five-month contracts to skirt regulations that workers employed for more than six months are considered regular employees and are entitled to benefits.

 

“There are jobs that really lend themselves to contracts. That kind of contract is okay,” Dominguez told reporters in June. 

 

Duterte has appointed former Anakpawis Rep. Joel "Ka Jomag" Maglungsod as an undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment.