Geneva, June 12 – Days after Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that the government of the Philippines was elected as a deputy member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body, the country earned the infamous distinction of being among the world’s Top 10 Worst Countries for Workers for eight consecutive years. This happened on the same day that the ILO Committee on Application of Standards issued its conclusion after reviewing the country’s adherence to ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association: the Philippines is failing to protect workers’ rights!
Announced in Geneva earlier today at the launch of the International Trade Union Confederation’s 2024 Global Rights Index, the Philippines—same as last year— received a rating of 5, which signifies that there is no guarantee of rights for workers in the country. It is one of six countries where trade unionists have been killed in staggering numbers. Worse, not one of the recorded 72 cases of trade union killings since 2016, have been resolved. Serious obstacles persist against trade union formation. A climate of fear, violence, and intimidation continues to loom heavily over workers. To have Filipino workers in a state of near permanent marginalization and disempowerment is a national disgrace for a country that presents itself as modern, democratic, and economically vibrant.
Moreover, more than a year after the conclusion of the ILO investigation, technically called the High Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM), none of the mission’s recommendations have been realized in any meaningful way. All this is not surprising. For the Philippine labor movement, the responsibility for this national disgrace lies squarely with the government, especially the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). At every step of the way, DOLE had been actively blocking and undermining organized labor’s attempts at pushing for urgently needed reforms.
The labor department was even exposed before the ILO as misrepresenting its alleged compliance with the ILO high level mission’s recommendations, as well as its supposed respect for tripartism in economic zones where workers’ representatives are hand-picked by employers.
How can the Philippines make its way out of this grim situation when the DOLE itself stubbornly refuses to recognize the harsh reality of red-tagging by state security forces and high officials, abduction, and killing of trade unionists; and constantly blocks the labor movement’s efforts for policy reforms? How can our rights to organize and to freedom of association be respected when DOLE itself is part of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an agency which cracks down on our workers and unionists rights?
The fact that unionization rates remain stagnant provides the true litmus test of compliance with international labor standards. If this downward trend in unionization rates and collective bargaining coverage continues, due in large part to rampant corporate and state impunity against workers, the Philippines will remain as one of the worst countries for working people.
