Lacson vows support for anti-endo bill

STA. CRUZ, Laguna — Presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday vowed to support the passage of the Security of Tenure Bill which seeks to end the practice of contractualization in the country's labor sector.

He made the remark after reelectionist Senator Joel Villanueva, who is part of their slate, said he would refile the anti-endo bill should he win in the upcoming polls.

“We will support that. Support natin ‘yon,” Lacson said in an ambush interview here.

"Kailangan lang mayroong parameters na pagka nagsilbi na sa isang kompanya for a certain period of time, dapat ‘yon wag na’ng kontraktwal," he added.

(We need to include parameters that if an employee stayed with  company for a certain period of time, he should not be considered as a contractual employee.)

In 2019, Villanueva refiled the anti-endo measure that President Rodrigo Duterte decided to veto despite being certified as urgent in the 17th Congress.

Ending contractualization was one of the bold promises that Duterte made when he was running for the highest position in the land.

Lacson and his running-mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III wooed voters here on Tuesday.

Before their sortie at Santo Angel Sur Covered Court, they received a warm welcome from supporters at Sta. Cruz Public Market.

The Lacson and Sotto tandem was joined by their senatorial bets, former Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar, Dra. Minguita Padilla, former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, former Senators JV Ejercito and Gringo Honasan.

Honasan is one of the members of the so-called Senate’s “Macho bloc” where Sotto, Lacson and Senators Lito Lapid and Manny Pacquiao are also members.

It is the first time that Honasan joined the ticket in their campaign rally. Lacson and Honasan are both members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971.

After their event, they paid courtesy to Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez.

According to the Commission on Elections’ data, Laguna has 2,044,796 registered voters for Eleksyon 2022. Of the said number, 79,938 belong are from Sta. Cruz. 

The tandem also visited the University of the Philippines Los Baños’ Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology to take a tour and consult its officials.

In an ambush interview, Lacson said his administration would allocate for at least 2% of the annual national budget for research and development.

As he previously stated, the government only appropriated 0.4% of the national budget for research programs and efforts.

He then recalled information from one private company where 15% of their profit proceeds to their research.

“Ang international standard talaga mga nasa 2%... So hindi naman tayo nanghihinhi ng 15%, iangat lang natin to the level of the international standard and we’ll be at par because we have the talents e,” he said.

(The international standard for research and development’s budget allocation is 2%. We will not seek 15% of the budget but we will just increase it to the level of the international standard and we’ll be at par with other countries because we already have the talents.)

He lamented that even scientists with doctorate degrees are tempted to look for better opportunities abroad due to lack of support from the government. — RSJ, GMA News