Two and a half years removed from the International Labour Organization-High Level Tripartite Mission (ILO-HLTM) to the Philippines, justice remains nowhere in sight for our fallen brothers and sisters. Not a single case of extrajudicial killing of workers has been solved. Not a single suspect has been apprehended. Not one case has prospered except one that government has conveniently labeled as not labor-related. It’s like reliving the brutal killings all over again.

For their families and the whole trade union movement, this is unacceptable.

The International Labour Conference – Committee on the Application of Standards (ILC-CAS) decided on June 2 to remove the Philippines from the shortlist of 24 countries being called out for violations of ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association. It’s not because the conditions of workers have meaningfully improved from a year ago. It’s just that workers from other countries are experiencing far more serious problems as in the cases of Myanmar under a military junta and Belarus, where persecution of trade unionists persist—to name a few.

The Philippines should again have been placed under CAS scrutiny this year.

The Philippine government may have escaped the scrutiny of the ILC-CAS for now, but it has not escaped the watchful eye of the world.

For eight consecutive years going nine, the Philippines has ranked among the world’s ten worst countries for workers, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index.

While there were no reported new killings of workers since the murder of labor organizer Jude Thaddeus Fernandez in September 29, 2023, the Workers’ Rights Watch (WRW) has documented an additional 30 cases during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte, that were only exposed years after his term ended.

All in all, for the duration of Duterte’s term up to the present, there have been at least 105 extrajudicial killings; seven (7) abductions involving 11 persons; 122 victims of trumped-up charges; 23 detained labor organizers, unionists; 341 cases of Threats, Harassment and Intimidation, including red- and terrorist-tagging; 118 violations of the right to assembly; and 156 anti-union activities  that include union busting, forced disaffiliation, among others.

These are staggering numbers by any measure, especially since the killing of one worker is one death too many. These are all direct attacks on the right to unionize and failure of government to stop these contributes to the culture of impunity.

The production of the Workers’ Rights Watch report was supported by the European Union through the “Support to Human and Labor Rights Defenders and Securing Civic Space” Project of the Federation of Free Workers and the Danish Trade Union Development Agency.

Executive Order 23, establishing the presidentially mandated Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) on Freedom of Association (FOA) headed by the Executive Secretary as recommended by the ILO-HLTM was met with a lot of criticism for failing to include trade unions in this special body, while welcoming alleged perpetrators from government state security forces in it. Pressed on by workers, the EO 23 IAC committed to making workers (and employers) regular dialogue partners.

Ironically, no regular meetings with social partners were set. The first time EO 23 IAC met with workers this year, it was not scheduled, but a knee jerk reaction to the WRW Report launched on March 17, 2025.

Last year, the “Omnibus Guidelines on the Exercise of Freedom of Association and Civil Liberties” that outlines the behavior of state security forces and necessary protocols was issued jointly by agencies under the EO 23 IAC. It misses out on providing sanctions and other administrative (and criminal) liabilities of erring state security forces. It does not cover workers in public service, nor those in the informal economy. With no teeth that an Executive Order could provide, it does not discourage violating FOA of workers.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC), principally responsible for red- and terror-tagging trade unions and activists instead of getting abolished, got a fresh mandate from President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

The executive is clearly cleaning its house to rid itself of Duterte apologists. It will do President Marcos, Jr. well if he disassociates himself with the legacy of killing and culture of impunity that Duterte established. He should follow up the arrest and detention at the ICC of Duterte for his Drug War (which was a war on the poor) with the arrest and prosecution of all uniformed personnel and civilian authorities responsible for the killing of workers. This would be a bold and progressive move that matters to the people, and a complete departure from the elitist bickering between members of the Uniteam that imploded all too soon. ###