MANILA, Philippines — The proposal for a two-year probationary period for workers is not a solution at all to the long-time woes of Filipino workers Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday, 22 October 2019 said.

“Pahahabain pa nito lalo ang paghihirap ng mga manggagawa. It is a fog in which to hide the real issue,” de Lima said.

“This ominous fog for a proposal will not only enshroud the actual issue – the abusive ENDO practices – but will also expose our workers to labor malpractice and put them in an employment situation where the attendant abuse is extended to two years, where predatory employers are served even more, and where the precipice and pitfalls are around to deliver our workers to the rocky bottom.”

The incarcerated senator also explained the proposal “is worse than 5-5-5. Here, employers can exploit workers’ labor for close to 2 years before cheating them of regularization and depriving them of their lawful benefits. If workers had been made to fall short in finishing their probationary period when it was shorter, how much easier would it be for unscrupulous employers to apply the same trick when the period is longer?”

De Lima also claims the two-year resolution in the House “is a mindless and heartless proposal, and at the core, anti-workers. Worse, it is antithetical to the long overdue anti-ENDO or security of tenure bill.” (PRIB/IAmigo/CNS)