Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The International Labour Organization (ILO) High Level Tripartite Mission to the Philippines is expected to help Congress craft laws that are supportive of labor and union rights, Rizal 4th District Rep. Fidel Nograles said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The ILO team will be in the Philippines from Jan. 24 to 27 to assess how the country’s labor practices fare in comparison to international standards — particularly the government’s obligations under the ILO Convention No. 87 — or the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention.
Nograles said the House Committee on Labor and Employment, which he chairs, would help the mission in whatever way it can.
“We look forward to the visit of the ILO and we will help them in any way we can during their visit. The government is very much open to address the concerns of labor groups and of course, we want to empower them and their members as part of our obligation under the ILO Convention No. 87,” he said.
The Philippines ratified ILO Convention No. 87 in December 1953, committing itself to protect laborers’ right to organize unions and form associations.
“We recognize the fundamental rights of trade union leaders and members and we want to work hand-in-hand with them to help improve working conditions of those in the labor sector,” Nograles said.
In November 2022, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) lauded the government for allowing the ILO Mission to visit the country.
In 2019, the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards raised concerns about the numerous allegations that trade unionists had killed and that government supposedly did not do anything to act on those concerns..
Then-Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello gave an assurance that the government had been looking into the killings of labor leaders and other attacks against unionists, such as red-tagging — or the act of linking them to communist rebels.
According to the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, the Philippine government must investigate and punish those behind the attacks on unionists.
Nograles said the following incidents, had been pinpointed by the International Trade Union Confederation:
- the alleged extrajudicial killing of 10 trade unionists
- at least 17 cases of arrest and detention after a police dispersal
- raids on unionists’ homes and offices from November 2020 to March 2021
- 17 cases of red-tagging and harassment, including against leaders of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Philippine National Police Non-Uniformed Personnel Association Inc., and other workers’ organizations
- 12 cases of forced disaffiliation campaigns and seminars, including for public school teachers, beverage workers, and palm oil plantation workers