The House of Representatives’  committee on labor and employment chairperson Enrico A. Pineda invited representatives from various employer organizations and industry associations last 3 September 2019 to discuss current labor issues, particularly those affected by the security of tenure bill that was recently vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte. This was the first time that the employer representatives met with Representative  Pineda of 1 Pacman Partylist.
Among the employer organizations represented in the meeting were the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Federation of Philippines Industries (FPI), Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), Makati Business Club, Federation of Indian Commerce, Philippine Retailers Association and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).
Representative Pineda asked the various associations for their comments or suggestions regarding the recently vetoed SOT bill and the veto message of the President. He was particularly interested on the impact of the bill had it been signed into law to affected industries.
It was a unanimous position that the vetoed SOT bill was not fair and reasonable to most industries as it strictly limits the constitutionally guaranteed principle of management prerogative of employers to contract out jobs, work or service in accordance to their needs.
ECOP, through the representation of Dean Antonio Abad, commented that we should all be thinking about the national interest, not just balancing labor and management, and that we should consider the direction of the economy and the impact of the bill to the health of the economy.
Representative Pineda then encouraged all employer representatives to promote engaging in legitimate service contractors to ensure compliance and advised them to report those which are engaged in the practice of illegitimate job contracting.
In closing, Representative Pineda assured the invitees present that the Committee on Labor will draft an SOT bill that would be balanced and beneficial to both management and labor.
