Security of tenure bill gets House nod

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to strengthen the security of tenure of workers in the private sector and put an end to labor-only contracting.

Lawmakers voted 204-7 with three abstentions on Tuesday, affirming their stamp of approval to House Bill 7036 or the Security of Tenure Act, which requires job contractors to obtain a permit from the Department of Labor and Employment.

“I’m glad that the bill has been passed because this is one of the campaign promises of President Duterte,” Rep. Enrico Pineda of party-list 1Pacman, who chairs the House committee on labor, said.

One of the principal authors of the bill, Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay of party-list Diwa, also lauded the passage of the measure.

House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano voted to reject the measure, noting that this “departs from the original intent of the old bill, which was to eliminate “endo” or end of contract scheme.

TUCP opposes bill

Claiming that it legitimizes contractualization, the country’s largest labor group rejected the measure approved by the House of Representatives.

“The bill does not meet the President’s promise to end contractualization. Congress missed a historic chance to correct the decades-long injustice to workers,” the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said in a statement.

The TUCP urged the congressional bicameral conference committee to correct the flaws that have led to the exploitation of millions of contractual workers nationwide.

“Without interventions in the Senate, the exploitation of workers will continue,” the group said. — Mayen Jaymalin