Bello, labor groups meet ahead of EO signing on ‘endo’

FILE: Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III and President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo: KING RODRIGUEZ/Presidential Photo)

MANILA — Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello has accepted another draft of Executive Order (EO), which aims to end contractualization, that will be submitted to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for his approval on Monday.

Several labor organizations met with Bello and other officials on Friday in Manila and submitted a draft for consideration of the President.

“They presented a draft and it will be one of the draft EO which we will submit to the Office of the President,” he said in an interview.

“It’s okay. The more drafts the better for the president to have a better option,” Bello added.

When asked if there are new provisions in the draft, Bello said that the labor groups introduced formulation that will allow some forms of contractual arrangement.

“Their position is that they a not for a total prohibition. They are accepting and it is not possible legally to totally prohibit all forms of contractualization,” he said.

“They have new formulation that will allow some forms of contractualization arrangement but of course ever consistent with the policy of the state should be a direct hire relation between the employer and employee,” Bello said.

He added that they also asked for other benefits such as cash subsidy and other strategies to cushion the impact of Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law on minimum wage earners.

Bello said the labor organizations will attend the meeting with Duterte on Monday, where he is expected to sign the EO. “They submitted 26 names,” he said.