The Leaders Forum (LF), comprised of employer and labor groups, has proposed courses of action to strengthen respect for workers’ right to freedom of association and improve labor-management relations in the Philippines as the country seeks to comply with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) urging to further uphold labor rights in the country.
The four courses of action were outlined in a recent joint statement by the LF, composed of the employers’ organizations Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT), and the workers’ groups Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO).
The LF stated that it recognizes the positive steps taken by the government with regards to labor rights and protection, including a clear policy statement against violence and harassment in the workplace and a commitment to protect workers’ right to freedom of association and resolve all labor-related cases filed.
The Philippine labor rights situation has been under global scrutiny since the ILO in January 2023 conducted a high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) to assess the extent of freedom of association in the Philippines. The HLTM reported that while some progress had been observed in recent years, “this remains largely insufficient in view of the very serious issues which have been raised to and by the ILO supervisory bodies over an extended period.”
Upon the HLTM’s recommendation, the Philippines on April 30, 2023 issued Executive Order No. 23 mandating the creation of the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) for the Protection of the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers to oversee the speedy and impartial investigation and resolution of cases related to workers’ right to freedom of association and right to organize.
On September 1, 2024, the Philippines is slated to submit its tripartite implementation report to the ILO on advancing the country’s commitment to enhance workers’ right to freedom of association.
The LF in its statement suggested four initiatives that “should be part and parcel of the tripartite implementation report of the Philippines.”
Among these actions is the regular convening by the IAC of consultations, updates, and similar mechanisms with employers’ and workers’ representatives to promote transparency, social dialogue, and tripartism as a State policy.
Another suggestion is to align national policy and practice with international labor standards. “We support the commitment of the State to bring national policy and practice in conformity with international labor standards, especially as articulated by ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association, which the Philippines has ratified and as recommended by the ILO since 2009,” the statement read.
Also pushed is increasing the budget of the Commission on Human Rights to ensure it has adequate resources to monitor labor-related human rights violations, provide witness protection, and increase reparations to victims of human rights violation and expedite their release. “We reiterate our earlier call for government to continue the investigation, prosecution and disposition of all labor-related cases affecting freedom of association and collective bargaining, without delay and in the interest of justice,” said the statement.
Finally, the group requested a review of the continued operation of the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict “on the basis of possible redundancy or overlapping functions with other agencies.”
The LF statement, issued August 28, 2024, was signed by ECOP chair Edgardo Lacson, FFW national president Jose Sonny Matula, PCCI president Enunina Mangio, SENTRO chair Abdulani Lakibul, PHILEXPORT president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., and TUCP president Raymond Democrito Mendoza.
