Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday challenged President Rodrigo Duterte to “give the go signal” for Congress to override his veto of the Security of Tenure bill if he is serious in stopping the end-of-contract (endo) practice.
“Just give us the go signal. In that case, if the Palace will give me the go signal, as Senate President, I will ask on May 23 [for us to convene and] we will overturn the veto,” said Sotto during Monday’s Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel.
In 2016, then presidential candidate Duterte made a promise to stop “endo.”
The President, however, vetoed the anti-endo bill in 2019, saying the version submitted by Congress “unduly broadens the scope and definition of prohibited labor-only contracting, effectively prescribing forms of contractualization that are not particularly unfavorable to employees involved.”
Lacson said had Duterte not vetoed the measure, he would have already fulfilled his campaign promise.
“If the veto has not expired, then we can override the veto. So, if they really want it passed, let me know. And we will override the veto if we can still override it if it has not yet proscribed,” Sotto said.
A Palace source, however, said there is no proscription period for the President’s veto.
“There is no Constitutional provision that says they have to override the veto within a certain period. The President has already acted on it by vetoing the measure. The ball is now with Congress,” the source told Manila Standard.
“If they really want to override the veto, if they can muster the necessary votes, there is nothing stopping them from doing so,” added the source, requesting anonymity.
However, if the Palace would send back the measure for amendments, Sotto said Congress no longer has enough time to act on it.
“If they’re saying they want to put new provisions or if they want [a different version], then we don’t have time to do it. That is already not possible. There is no more time. Perhaps, it will already be for the next Congress,” he said.
Sotto recalled how immediately after receiving Duterte’s veto message in 2019, he wrote the Palace to ask for the amendments they want to save the measure.
“I never received an answer from that time up to now. Now, I don’t know what push this is, but it is throwing back to us what we already passed,” he said.
Last week, Duterte’s acting spokesman, Secretary Martin Andanar, said the President was calling on Congress to rectify the vetoed provisions of the Security of Tenure bill.
Employers said it will be difficult for the government to stop “endo” because many industries have come to thrive using this scheme.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luiz said the President might not truly understand the consequences of ending endo since this could lead to an exodus of investments.
He added that contractualization is widely used in other countries like India.
“It is a global practice accepted by many governments. It is only here in the Philippines where endo, though practiced, is not acceptable,” he said.