According to a release by Workers Against Tyranny, Corruption, and Human rights violation (WATCH), the group is calling on President Rodrigo Duterte to push through with his campaign promise to end the practice of ‘contractualization’ by issuing an executive order.
“Workers are just being played,” said WATCH co-convener Roland C. de la Cruz. “It has been almost two years and five dialogues with the president and yet nothing happened.”
“[Duterte] promised to end contractualization by executive fiat,” he added. “Duterte announced that he will not sign the [executive order] and will pass the buck to Congress – this is not what we expected.”
The group noted, with the implementation of policies such as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, workers have been “adversely affected.”
Back in March, after President Duterte admitted to encountering difficulties in fulfilling his campaign promise to end contractualization, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) called on labor unions to have more patience.
“I appeal to the labor groups to have little patience,” said DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod. “DOLE is doing everything possible to end contractualization of labor.”
Duterte also previously recognized both the limited number of businesses operating in the country and the rights of business owners when it comes to the issue of ending contractualization.
“There are few businesses to absorb the human resource,” he explained./WDJ