MANILA -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a self-styled advocate of labor rights who has threatened companies that hire workers on contracts, on Friday vetoed a bill that would have forced businesses to turn temporary staff into regular employees.
Duterte's move is a win for employers who had warned the proposed law would increase costs and hurt competitiveness, but a loss for labor groups that had banked on his pro-worker leanings. Both sides had been on edge in recent days as the bill would have automatically become law this weekend had the president not acted.
