MANILA – Sen. Joel Villanueva did not make any revisions as he refiled the Security of Tenure bill, a measure that hopes to fulfill President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise of ending the labor contracting scheme in the country.
Villanueva said that the Senate Bill No. 806 is “exactly the same measure that was certified as priority and urgent measure by the President” late last year.
“This is the same because we wanted to find out from the President’s men or the officials na nag-influence sa Pangulo na i-veto ito para i-pinpoint nila kung anong particular provision ‘yung may problema sila,” Villanueva said.
The proposed bill was supposed to lapse into law last July 27, if not acted upon.
Under the measure, labor contracting was defined as a practice wherein a job contractor “merely recruits and supplies or places workers to a contractee.” The measure prohibits business entities from hiring workers on a contractual basis.
It requires businesses to directly hire employees, effectively banning the practice of outsourcing workers through manpower agencies. It wanted companies to absorb or regularize all workers.
All employees, including project and seasonal employees except those on probationary status, were entitled to benefits received by regular workers.Duterte said that “while labor-only contracting must be prohibited, legitimate job-contracting should be allowed” provided that the contractor would be “well-capitalized, has sufficient investments and affords its employees all the benefits.”/PN
