International Labour Conference

111th session

Geneva, 5-16 June 2023

Committee on Application of Standards

Philippines

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, (No. 87)

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Albania*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, the Republic of North Macedonia*, the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. We actively promote the universal ratification of ILO fundamental Conventions. We call on all countries to protect, promote and respect all human rights, including labour rights and we attach great importance to freedom of association and the right to organize.
2. The Philippines is an important partner, including in support of multilateralism and international rules based order. Within the framework of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus and the Framework Agreement on partnership and cooperation with the EU and its Member States, the Philippines committed to ratify and effectively implement international Conventions on human rights, including labour rights.
3. The case we discuss today, is long-standing and serious. At its 2019 session, the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) noted with concern the numerous allegations of murders of trade unionists and anti-union violence as well as the lack of investigation in relation to these allegations. The Conference Committee also called on the Government to accept a high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) before the 2020 ILC and to elaborate, in consultation with the most representative workers’ and employers’ organizations, a report on progress to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) by 1 September 2019.
4. An exchange in September 2021 with the ILO, the Government and the social partners was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the recommendations of this exchange was that the Government adopt a time-bound plan of action in consultation with the social partners and with support from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE), to address the four areas of concern.
5. We welcome that the Philippines received the High-Level Tripartite Mission in January 2023. The mission made a number of recommendations and while it observed some progress, this remains largely insufficient in view of the very serious nature of the issues.
6. We very much regret that the Government did not make available a joint implementation report by the tripartite partners to the ILO prior to the 2023 CAS in order to show tangible action towards implementing these recommendations. We want to underline that tripartite actions are crucial for progress. We nevertheless welcome the joint statement of the Leaders Forum which can serve as a strong and positive foundation to pursue discussions on the tripartite roadmap.
7. Under the new administration, we see an improvement in the human rights area and we hope that this trend will be continued. The dialogue with the EU is open, also on the most sensitive issues. However, areas of concern remain, including the allegations of serious violence and intimidation against trade unionists, serious violations against workers and their representatives regarding civil liberties and freedom of association where authorities, in some cases, are preventing the lawful activities of trade unions. We are also worried about the pending cases of alleged killings of trade union leaders and members where, despite efforts by the Government, no apparent progress was made. We want to highlight the need for investigations into the killings of trade unionists to shed full light on the facts and circumstances in which such actions occurred, determine responsibilities, punish the perpetrators and prevent the repetition of similar events in order to combat impunity.
8. We are concerned about the practice of red-tagging of trade union representatives and members and allegations of links to terrorist organisations by the security forces to create a climate of fear leading to workers being impeded from exercising their rights. Any suspicion of criminal acts should be brought before the appropriate judicial bodies with assurances of due process and respect for the presumption of innocence.
9. We welcome the intentions of the Government to combat impunity and secure the application of Convention No. 87. However, we regret that very little policy or legislative action has been taken to effectively address the significant and long-standing concerns of the CEACR and the CAS. We note with concern the lack of progress regarding the adoption of several legislative proposals to bring national legislation into conformity with Convention No. 87, despite repeated commitments and assurances in recent years to do so. The absence of effective action to address areas of concern due to lack of resources and coordination in different areas, such as the effective functioning of monitoring mechanisms and the Administrative Order No. 35, is a particular concern, this despite EU-funded ILO technical assistance since 2016 in view of institutional strengthening of the tripartite partners with focus on the concerned government agencies.
10. While we welcome the President Executive Order to create an Inter-Agency Committee to examine the violations of freedom of association and developing a roadmap we regret that the Executive Order falls short of the ILO HLTM recommendations and that it appears it was not consulted with the social partners as these are issues that directly affect them.
11. On the economic zones we understand that the programmes of the Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office and the Alliance for Industrial Peace and Program Office have been put on hold, and we welcome that. We however urge the Government to secure trade unions’ rights by continuing to promote comprehensive training activities on freedom of association and collective bargaining and revising Guidelines on the conduct of stakeholders relative to the exercise of trade union rights.
12. We furthermore reiterate our comments from previous years to urge the Government to adopt the legislative amendments to pursue the revision of the Labour Code without additional delay to bring the national legislation into conformity with the Convention.
13. We agree with the HLTM report that the serious and pressing concerns could only be addressed by genuine and impactful social dialogue, as well as a reinvigorated whole of government approach. We encourage the Government to constructively engage social partners in order to finalize a tripartite roadmap with clear deliverables and timelines and to incorporate it in the Labour and Employment Plan 2023-2028 as indicated by the Government. We hope that the effective implementation of the roadmap will be reflected in a joint implementation report. We encourage the Government to continue to collaborate with the ILO on this issue.
14. Thank you Chair.

[*Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of North Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.]