FACT CHECK: Duterte did not end contractualization

Claim: The blog dailyviralhub.altervista published a story claiming President Rodrigo Duterte ended contractualization when he signed an executive order (EO) on the labor practice on May 1, Labor Day. It also claims the labor practice was adopted during the Aquino administration.

The post leads to a video entitled “PANGULONG DUTERTE WINAKASAN NA ANG CONTRACTUALIZATION NA PINATUPAD NG MGA AQUINO!” (President Duterte ends contractualization which was adopted by the Aquinos). The post was shared 14 times by 14 different Facebook pages. 

The video contains CNN Philippines’ report on the signing of the order and was posted by a YouTube account under the username “DU30 News.”

Contractualization or endo (end of contract) is the illegal practice of hiring fixed-term employees and continuously renewing their contracts to avoid giving benefits regular workers are entitled to.

Rating:  FALSE

The facts: What President Duterte signed on May 1, Labor day was an EO against illegal contractulization, not an order banning all forms of contractualization or the labor practice itself. (READ: Duterte signs executive order on endo)

During the signing at a Labor Day event in Cebu City, Duterte said the order itself would not be enough to end contractualization and that Congress should pass pending bills on security of tenure. 

In response, labor groups rejected Duterte’s EO and argued there was “nothing new” in the order, which they described as a “face-saving” measure to appease Filipino workers. 

The post also claims that contractualization was adopted by the Aquino administration, though it did not specify if it was referring to the administration of former President Corazon Aquino or her son, Benigno Aquino III.

Despite this, Cid Terosa, dean of the Economics Program at the University of Asia and the Pacific, in a previous Rappler interview said that it was former dictator Ferdinand Marcos who signed a decree allowing the hiring of temporary workers “because the economy was unstable and unemployment was high.”

During the contested burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, labor groups also claimed their plight against contractualization started under the rule of Marcos. (READ: Labor groups vs burial: Marcos started contractualization) – with reports from Sofia Tomacruz/Rappler.com