The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) condemns the three incidents of harassment against fellow labor NGO Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER). The harassment of EILER shows that repression of unionism continues under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr presidency.

In its statement released on 21 March, EILER publicized and criticized incidents of harassment that occurred in its Quezon City office. In December 2024, a rice sack which labelled the institute “terrorist recruiter” was draped in the building that housed EILER’s office. In January 2025, another rice sack was draped in a vacant lot across the building, this time accusing partylist group Bayan Muna of being a “terrorist recruiter.” In February 2025, a sticker was pasted on the building’s gate, accusing EILER of being a “terrorist recruiter,” claming that “many have died because of EILER.”

Redtagging has become so pervasive and normalized that people know that these messages point to one accusation: that EILER recruits people to the rebel group New People’s Army or NPA and to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the CPP, which the Philippine government has designated as terrorist organizations. Incidents of harassment such as these have been followed by actual repressive actions and rights violations – and if these are carried out against EILER, we will hold the Philippine military and government accountable.

We have known EILER for many years: EILER was founded in 1981, while CTUHR was founded in 1984. It is a labor NGO that specializes in providing workers with progressive education on political economy, labor and human rights, and social justice. It has helped many workers form unions and organizations and claim their rights. It has trained countless labor activists and leaders. It has contributed immensely to the gains and strengths of the labor movement.

The country’s embrace of neoliberal economic policies has meant that NGOs like EILER have been considered by ruling regimes and many employers as a thorn in their side. The powers-that-be have taken advantage of their suppression of terrorism to redtag, demonize, try to silence and repress institutions like EILER that contiunue to work for genuine workers’ unionism, and the self-organization of the country’s poor and marginalized populations.

By branding EILER and other labor formations as “terrorist recruiter,” the Philippine military and government are displaying their narrow and militaristic understanding of the armed insurgency. The insurgency continues not because of some recruiter, but because workers and individuals continue to decide to undergo the hardship of armed rebellion because of persisting hunger and poverty, joblessness and landlessness, underdevelopment and repression. It cannot be ended by attacking groups that the government accuses of recruiting terrorists, but by addressing the socio-economic root causes of the insurgency.

The incidents of harassment against EILER show that unionism continues to be repressed in the country. Standing up for basic labor and human rights, which the government is supposed to uphold, has meant fighting. We trust that EILER, a much-admired NGO in the country, in the Asia-Pacific and the world, will remain undeterred by these attacks.