(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure bill because its definition of what was prohibited contracting was “sweeping.”
In his veto message, Duterte said that the definition “effectively (proscribes) forms of contractualization that are not particularly unfavorable to the employees involved.”
According to Duterte, while labor-only contracting should be prohibited, “legitimate subcontracting should be allowed, provided that the contractor is well capitalized, has sufficient investments, and affords its employees all the benefits provided for under the labor laws.”
“Businesses should be allowed to determine whether they should outsource certain activities or not, especially when job-contracting will result in economy and efficiency in their operations, with no detriment to the workers, regardless of whether this is directly related to their business,” Duterte said.
He said this was especially important since “empirical data shows that the Philippines is currently at a disadvantage already in terms of cost and flexibility of labor use compared to its peers in the region.”
According to the President, the Supreme Court has also, “on several occasions,” ruled that “while the Philippine Constitution provides that the State shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare, such constitutional policy is not intended to oppress or destroy capital and management, and a healthy balance between the conflicting interests of labor and management must be observed.”
“I believe the sweeping expansion of the definition of labor-only contracting destroys the delicate balance and will place capital and management at an impossibly difficult predicament with adverse consequences to the Filipino workers in the long term,” Duterte said.
“In view of these considerations, I am constrained to veto the abovementioned enrolled bill,” Duterte added.
