EO 51: Security of Tenure Protection

Section 2 strictly prohibits contracting or subcontracting when undertaken to circumvent workers’ right to security of tenure, self-organization, and peaceful concerted activities.
Section 2 defines security of tenure as the right of employees not to be dismissed or removed without just or authorized cause and procedural due process consistent with the Constitution, the Labor Code, and prevailing jurisprudence.
Section 2 authorizes the Secretary of Labor and Employment to declare, by appropriate issuances and in consultation with the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council under Art. 290(c) of the Labor Code, activities which may be contracted out.

Section 3 provides that the principal engaged in an arrangement in violation of Executive Order No. 51 shall be considered the direct employer of the contractor’s or subcontractor’s workers for all purposes.
Section 3 makes the principal liable as the direct employer once an arrangement violates the order’s prohibition on illegal contracting or subcontracting.

Section 4 directs the Secretary of Labor and Employment, through duly authorized representatives and deputized labor and employer representatives, to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with all labor laws, including Executive Order No. 51.
Section 4 grants inspectors full access to the employer’s records and premises and the right to copy documents, question employees, and investigate any fact, condition, or matter necessary to determine violations or aid enforcement.
Section 4 requires access at any time of the day or night whenever work is being undertaken in the establishment.
Section 4 provides that the Secretary or designated representative shall issue compliance orders after due hearing to give effect to labor standards provisions of the Labor Code and other labor legislation, rules, and regulations.
Section 4 states that compliance orders affirmed by the Secretary shall be immediately executory unless restrained by an appropriate court.
Section 4 provides special rules when a compliance order directs regularization:
- Employment of the workers shall not be terminated pending appeal of the regularization order except for just or authorized cause.
- Any termination of workers pending appeal of a compliance order involving regularization renders that compliance order involving the regularization of workers executory.

Section 5 provides that violations of Executive Order No. 51 shall be penalized where appropriate under existing laws and/or regulations.

Section 6 directs all government agencies in the Executive Branch to cooperate and extend appropriate assistance to the Department of Labor and Employment to carry out the objective of Executive Order No. 51.

Section 7 provides that if any section or part of Executive Order No. 51 is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining unaffected sections or provisions remain in full force and effect.

Section 8 repeals, amends, or modifies all orders, rules and regulations, issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with Executive Order No. 51.

Section 9 provides that Executive Order No. 51 takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Effectivity date mechanics: the law’s effectivity is measured from the date of publication plus 15 days, per Section 9.

Executive Order No. 51 is titled “IMPLEMENTING ARTICLE 106 OF THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, AS AMENDED, TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO SECURITY OF TENURE OF ALL WORKERS BASED ON SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION.”
The order was adopted on 01 May 2018, and filed on 04 May 2018.
Executive Order No. 51 is issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as President of the Philippines.
The order’s stated legal basis includes Article 106 of the Labor Code, as amended, and it references Article 128 (Visitorial and Enforcement Power) and Art. 290(c) of the Labor Code, as amended.
The order invokes constitutional directives from Section 18, Article II and Section 3, Article XIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, including the State’s duty to protect workers, guarantee security of tenure, and promote full protection of labor.

Executive Order No. 51 declares government policy to protect workers’ right to security of tenure by eradicating all forms of abusive employment practices through strict implementation of the Labor Code, as amended.