Job security

For the nth time, President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to step down from office at Malacañang Palace even earlier than the end of his term on June 30, 2022. As the highest elected official of the government, the former Davao City Mayor is protected by the country’s 1987 Constitution to a fixed term of six years in office unless otherwise removed by impeachment.

Or, if the President is disabled and could no longer perform his job. Or, if he dies while in office – by natural cause or fatal accident. Or, worst case scenario, being ousted from office like the questioned EDSA-2 “power grab” that saw the removal of former president Joseph Estrada and replacement by his erstwhile vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Since he took office on June 30, 2016, President Duterte has declared he is not a power-hungry official, a line that he repeatedly said in pushing Charter change (Cha-cha) that may extend his stay in office beyond the fixed term. In fact, the Chief Executive always expresses his readiness to step down from office at any time to give way to his duly elected successor, Vice President Leni Robredo.

To quell coup rumors in the past, President Duterte facetiously even invited to induct into office any military or police general who wishes a “junta” rule in the country, if only to prevent a bloody takeover from civilian government.

For someone whose security of tenure is constitutionally protected, the 72-year-old President Duterte is only too eager to cut his term short. On the other hand, some of Duterte’s appointees reluctantly resigned their government offices after they got word to either choose to quietly exit or to suffer public shame by being fired for alleged corruption. Presidential appointees have no job security to speak of because they serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.

Recently, President Duterte revived anew his willingness to step down from office if the 17th Congress fails to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) before the end of this year.

“I assure you, before the end of May, it will be passed. If not, I might just resign from the presidency. It’s all yours. I can’t do it anymore,” the President boldly spoke in a gathering in Maguindanao two weeks ago. “It’s useless. If you give me this kind of administration until the end of my term, frankly, I would rather resign. I am getting tired trying to solve the problem,” he bewailed.

President Duterte is obviously confident to offer his “resign” gambit.

He knows very well the certainty of the passage into law of the BBL sooner than expected. After all, both chambers of the 17th Congress largely belong to the ruling administration PDP-Laban party. The Senate and the House of Representatives have only three weeks left when they go back to work on May 15. The second regular sessions will end on June 2 in a sine die adjournment.

Senate president Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III shares the President’s optimism on the BBL’s approval before the adjournment of Congress next month. Speaking during our weekly breakfast forum Kapihan sa Manila Bay last week, Pimentel disclosed the BBL is already on advanced stage of the legislative mills at the Senate. Its passage into law is already being debated at the floor under the sponsorship of Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri who, like Pimentel, hails from Mindanao.

Asked if the Senate version of the BBL can be approved within the remaining three weeks of session days, Pimentel retorted: “Yes, that is the game plan by Senator Migz Zubiri. For that very short session, we have to tackle the BBL.”

At the House of Representatives, Pimentel cited the commitment to President Duterte by fellow Mindanao leader, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (PDP-Laban, Davao del Norte) to ensure the enactment of the BBL at the soonest possible time. However, the BBL is still pending at three House committees. “But, as I can quote the Speaker, if they want to fast track this, they can do it,” Pimentel quipped with a smile.

Another legislative priority identified by President Duterte for the 17th Congress is the passage into law of the proposed amendment of the Labor Code of the Philippines to strengthen the “security of tenure” provision for the sake of thousands of Filipino workers exploited by the so-called “end of contract” (endo) kind of employment.

Two weeks before the Labor Day observance, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced the President made this appeal to the leaders of Congress. Bello said the President might not issue an Executive Order (EO) for “endo” and would instead support a “security of tenure” bill pending in the Senate.

On Labor Day observance yesterday, President Duterte turned out to have a change of heart and mind to issue the EO on “endo,” with a stern warning against those companies and employers that their “days are numbered” once this EO takes effect. President Duterte confessed it would require a remedial legislation by Congress to effectively amend the Labor Code in addressing the “endo” issues at the workplaces across the country.

However, militant labor groups were unimpressed and demanded a more definitive ban and sanctions for employers and companies engaged in “endo” which they insist is illegal per se under the Labor Code and many big businesses still do.    

In his Labor Day speech yesterday held in Cebu, the President turned to his favorite bible passage Ecclesiastes 3:11 that speaks of the balanced, cyclical nature of life, and that there is a proper time for everything. The President called upon both workers and employers to help him find this balance for the sake of the entire Philippine economy and benefit of all.

Since taking over the presidency almost two years ago, President Duterte belatedly realized his campaign promise of jobs security for the many Filipino workers by banning “endo” is something he could not deliver without violating the country’s Constitution on equal protection of the law.