From piecemeal legislations to codification: 100 years of labor legislation and "we still don't get it"

• Main Author: Caraan, Hilario S.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Labor laws and legislation > Philippines; Administrative law > Philippines; Law; Legislation
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/13424
• Institution: De La Salle University

There is a lingering debate as to what type of amendment or revision is necessary for the Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442) which had codified the country's piecemeal legislations from 1908 to 1974. While some assert that a recodification of the Labor Code of the Philippines is indispensable to reconcile tensions and among globalization, labor regulatory policies, and industrial democracy, others claim that pertinent piecemeal amendments to the Code are sufficient, but still others believe that there is a need to provide flexibility in labor regulatory policies by abolishing the Code, and reverting to the previous piecemeal legislations.In order to resolve the foregoing governance issue in Philippine Administrative Law, this research paper finds it necessary to determine what strategic "labor law reform approach" is appropriate in order to achieve the goal of reconciling tensions among the three.Specifically, this paper aims: (1) To trace the historical past of these "labor law reform approaches" as utilized in the Philippines from 1908, when the first legislative enactment on labor was made, until 2008; (2) To assess the appropriateness of codification legislation as against piecemeal legislation as a "labor law reform approach", given the conflicting strategies suggested by various sectors and stakeholders vis-a-vis the goal of reconciling tensions among globalization, labor regulatory policies, and industrial democracy; and (3) To determine the findings' implications to public administrative system as well as to make policy recommendations relative to the findings.