THE HOUSE of Representatives labor committee chair on Wednesday assured that the latest version of the proposed Security of Tenure Act prohibits all forms of labor contractualization “while being fair to both parties.”
“The proposed Security of Tenure Act does not legitimize labor-only contracting,” Party-list Rep. Enrico A. Pineda told reporters in a briefing.
The chamber on Tuesday approved House Bill No. 7036 with 204 affirmative votes, seven negatives, and three abstentions.
Mr. Pineda said while the measure prohibits labor-only contracting, it grants the Labor secretary, after consultation with the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, the right “to make appropriate distinctions” between labor-only contracting and legitimate job contracting.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte last year vetoed the proposed law’s earlier version.
House Minority leader Joseph Stephen S. Paduano, on the other hand, said the new version departs from the original intent of the proposed law, which was to eliminate contractualization.
“The current bill, to my mind, will not address the problem on labor-only contracting,” he told BusinessWorld Wednesday.
“The ‘substitute bill’ pales in comparison to the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines that clearly stipulate the prohibition of abusive workers’ contracts,” said Mr. Paduano, who represents the Abang Lingkod Party-list and one of the main authors of the original bill.
HB No. 7036 seeks to strengthen the security of tenure of employees in the private sector by amending Presidential Decree No. 442 or the Labor Code of the Philippines. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza