LABOR DAY WITH THE PRESIDENT. President Rodrigo R. Duterte addresses the crowd gathered for the 116th Labor Day celebration in Cebu City at IC3 Convention Center on Tuesday (May 1, 2018). Other government officials join the President on stage. (Photo by Bebie Jane Casipong/PNA)
CEBU CITY -- President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the executive order (EO) putting an end to the practice of “endo” in front of thousands of participants at the 116th Labor Day celebration on Tuesday at the IC3 Convention Center Hall B here.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III read the EO before the President signed it.
President Duterte also read the EO and underscored Section 2 which prohibits the contracting and subcontracting of laborers.
“This is the best I can do. So I will sign it in front of you,” the President said.
“I did not sign it earlier because I want to sign it in front of you,” he added.
President Duterte, however, said his EO is not enough as the Senate also has to provide a long-term solution to ensure security of tenure of workers. Congress, he said, should amend the Labor Code since it is already “outdated.”
He also warned all non-compliant and abusive employers practicing “endo” that their days are numbered.
The President likewise ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to submit a list of illegal labor-contracting companies to his office.
“Endo,” or end of contract, is the term used for contractualization of workers that has been affecting short-term contractual employees in the country.
President Duterte mingled with some of the job applicants in the local and overseas job fair before his speech.
The job fair, held at IC3 Convention Center Hall C and one of the highlights of the Labor Day celebration in Cebu, offered 10,706 vacancies with 20 participating local companies and 35 firms for overseas posts.
Aside from Bello, also joining the President on stage are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, former president and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. (With reports from Bebie Jane Casipong/PNA)
