SEN. Joseph Victor Ejercito has filed the “Anti-ENDO” bill, which seeks to “strengthen” the security of tenure for workers and employees in the private sector.
Ejercito said Senate Bill No. 7, or the Security of Tenure Act, will introduce amendments to Presidential Decree No. 422 or the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended, so that private sector workers and employees will not “always struggle to make their employment regular or permanent.”
“Somehow, some way, employers with no regard for the plight of workers seem to have circumvented the law in the name of profit and personal convenience. Short-term labor contracts have been the norm rather than the exception. Contractualization has become more prevalent than ever and has become not only a relief but an escape from responsibility,” Ejercito said in the bill’s explanatory note.
He said that the word “endo” or end of contract, has been used in recent years to “hide” the concept of contractualization since employers define it as “a period of employment” while workers view it as “borrowed time — a job with a death sentence.”
He said the bill seeks not only to “bring comfort” to the minds of workers but also to assure them that their rights to security of tenure are protected.
“Labor-contracting shall be prohibited and those found in violation of such shall be heavily fined and their licenses revoked,” he added.
