Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has requested President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the passage of a bill seeking to end contractualization in the country.

In the "Laging Handa" public briefing on Wednesday, Bello said he signed a letter addressed to Duterte "recommending the issuance of certification, to certify the endo bill" pending before the Congress.

He said he did not know where Undersecretary Jacinto Paras of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office was coming from when he reportedly mentioned that the anti-endo bill was not one of the priority measures of the Duterte administration.

"(Passage of) endo bill was one of the promises of the President," Bello said as he recalled that as early as 2019, Duterte already certified the passage of the bill as urgent.

He said Congress passed the measure but Duterte vetoed it after some labor groups allegedly expressed dissatisfaction over the bill.

Asked of the difference of the 2019 bill and the proposed measure to be certified as urgent again, Bello said, "substantially the same, those what could be contracted."

He expressed hope that the current bill could finally be passed into law "and hopefully no one will complain again." Celerina Monte/DMS