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Consider HB 4802'dead on arrival' in the' Senate
By VANNT tLAll'lE P. TtnnAZ0tA
and Bfl{ n0sARll)
senators odMonday obiected to a
measure filed by a party-list repre-
sentative seeking to extend the pe-
riod of probation for workers to two
years from the current six months.
' Senate President Vicente Sotto
III said House Bill (HB) 4'802 filed
by Probinsyano Ako Party-list Rep-
resentative Jose'(Bonito" Singson
Jr. will go against efforts to end the
practice of contractualization by
companies.
"It practically goes against the
move to remove contractualization,
It needs a considerable amount of
study," Sotto said in a text mes-
sage.
Minority Leader Franldin Drilon,
in opposing the measure, said the
bill would be "dead on arrival" in
the Senate should ithurdle the Lower
chamber.
"I will oppose its passage. If the
House passes it, consider it DoA in
the Senate. Hindi ito makatarungan
(This is unjust). Hindi makatwiran
(Unreasonable)," Drilon said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, for
his part, said prolonging the proba-
tionary period would be unconstitu-
tional as it would violate the right of
workers to security of tenure.
Tuesday,octoberzz,zole
('That may open the floodgates
to even greater.abuse. Security of
tenure of labor is a right recognized
and protected by our Constitution.
Lengthening the probationary pe-
riod three fold prevents the worker
from enjoying such a right under our
Charter," he said.
Earlier, senator Joel Villanueva,
chair of the senste committee on
labor, said the maximum six-month
probationary employment period
provides employers enough "window
of opportuniry " to ver if theii workers
have the skills to qualify ap regular
employees.
Villanueva, said a longer proba-
tionary employment period would
violate the workers' right to security
of tenure,
1'Workers would be on the losing
end if the probationary period is ex-
tended to 24 months from the current
six months, " villanueva said.
He called on the Department
of Labor and Employment to fast
-track the drafting of their version
of the Security of Tenure (soT) Bill
so that the Senate could start tackling
the measure.
senator Francis pangilinan echoed
Villanueva's concern. "That may
.open th€ floodgates to even greater
abuse. Security of tenure of labor is a
right recognized and protected by-our
t F.Aq€-<'/
Constitution. Lengthening the pro-
bationary period three fold prevents
the worker from enjoying such a right
under our Charter," he said.
For Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara,
a two-year probationary employ-
ment period could only be applied
in jobs requiring complex skills and
training.
"But we have to be careful to
avoid cases where the unscrupulous
will take advantage of this longer
period for probation. For example, is
it necessary to have a person chang-
ing bedsheets and towels for z years?
Definitely not. So the law must en-
sure protection for employees against
abuse of the law," Angara said in a
text message.
HB /r8o2 stays
But Singson is unfazed by criti-
cisms. In fact, he claims that HB 4802
has started to draw support as a swift
but lasting fix to the much-critieized
but legal "endo or end of con-
tract)' manner of hiring personnel.
Singson Ilatly reiected calls from
oppositors to withdraw the bill.
"Definitely not. Some may ac-
cept this as a middleground that
will lay to rest the endo contro-
versy but a closer look at its pro-
visions will show its true pro-
labor color," explained singson.
Earlier, presidential spokesman
- Drilbn
salvador Panelo said President
Duterte agrees with Labor Secre-
tary Silvestre Bello III in striking
down the proposal that could be
subjected to abuse by employers.
Singson says he understands the
misgivings aired against the bill but
pointed out that HB 4802 is replete
with provisions that would thwart
any attempts to manipulate it.
"This bill will protect workers
from being fired every six months
and give them a better chance
to prove their worth as regular
employees," explained Singson.
Workers, too will have a longer pe-
riod of specializing in positions they
occupy. on the other hand, employ-
ers will benefit more from better
trained workers, Singson added.
Progressive lawmakers led by
Reps. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela
Party-
list); France Castro (ACT Teachers
Partylist) and Ferdinand Gaite
(Bayan Muna) said the bill runs
counter to the constitutional pro-
vision providing for job security.
caite said instead of pushing for a
longer probationary period, con-
gress should act immediately in
passing the security of tenure bill
that would put an end to the practice
of "endo" or the firing of workers
before they could reach six months
in the job.