Duterte Urged By Business Associations To Abandon ‘End Endo’ Bill

Members of the Joint Foreign Chambers and Philippine Business Groups have appealed to president Rodrigo Duterte to veto the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill that will end labor contracting. The proposed law requires companies to directly employ staff and ban the practice of outsourcing work through manpower companies. Proponents of the bill said the measure allows for an employer-employee relationship where the employer would either have to absorb or regularize workers, among other provisions.
However, business chambers argued that the current labor policies are already tight enough, while private sector leaders said the bill unduly targets them, and did not address the national government’s contractual, coterminous and job-order workers. The appeal was signed by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Semiconductor & Electronics Industries in the Philippines.