Lawmaker explains no vote for ‘Endo Bill’

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – House Minority Leader Stephen Paduano said that although he was one of the principal authors of House Bill 6908 or the Endo Bill during the 17th Congress, which was vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte, he cannot support the measure.

Paduano explained his “no vote” to Daily Guardian Thursday saying that the new bill departs from the original intent of the original bill which was to eliminate “endo” or labor only contracting.

Endo (end of contract) refers to a short-term employment practice in the Philippines. It is a form of contractualization which involves companies giving workers temporary employment that lasts them less than six months and then terminating their employment just short of being regularized in order to skirt on the fees which come with regularization.

Paduano, who represents the Abang Lingkod Partylist, said the current bill will not address the problem of labor-only contracting.

He said HB 6908 outlaws contractualization while HB 7036 legalizes job contracting.

“This will complicate the issue due to the very thin line that separates labor contracting from job contracting,” he added.

“While manifesting my strong opposition to the bill, let me clarify that on the issue of sub-contracting, it is my position not to totally ban the same. It promotes creation of jobs as well as supports the business of MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) for as long as the employees or the sub-contractors have security of tenure.”

Paduano also said that this “substitute bill” pales in comparison to the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines that clearly stipulate the prohibition of abusive workers’ contracts.