‘Endo’ bill still Palace priority

MANILA, Philippines — The security of tenure (SOT) bill, vetoed by President Duterte due to provisions seen as disadvantageous to employers, is still a priority of the administration, Malacañang stressed yesterday. 

Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) chief Adelino Sitoy said the priority measures not enacted during the previous Congress, including the SOT, would be refiled. 

Asked to react to senators’ claim that the SOT bill, which seeks to ban illegal contractualization or “endo,” was not included in the Palace priority list, Sitoy replied: “No, this time the priority bill will be refiled. But with some changes.” 

“It’s our priority,” he added. 

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri met with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and other Cabinet officials for a pre-Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council meet to prevent the vetoing of key measures.

Also present during the meeting were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Sen. Sonny Angara, chairman of the finance committee; Sen. Christopher Go, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the appropriations committee

“Hopefully, we will be able to eliminate the issues on bills being vetoed. As manifested by the majority leader (Zubiri) during the meeting, we were there to clear the air, also. So it was an organizational meeting,” Sotto told reporters.

“We have ironed out details to avoid veto,” Sitoy added in a phone interview. 

“Same priorities. The remaining priorities in the past, in the 17th Congress and then we will refile,” he added. 

Aside from the SOT bill, other priority measures are the coco levy bill, the proposed National Land Use Act and the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps, Sitoy said. 

Interestingly, the federalism bill, one of the campaign promises of Duterte, was not included in the list of priorities. 

“Nothing, no mention,” Sitoy said when asked if the federalism bill is among the priority measures. 

He said he does not know why the measure was excluded from the list.