President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved an executive order that reinforces and protects freedom of association and workers’ rights to organize.
Signed on April 30, Executive Order 23 also ordered the creation of the Inter-Agency Committee for the Protection of the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers.
It will be chaired by the Executive Secretary, while the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment will be its vice chair.
The members include the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of National Defense, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Security Council, and the Philippine National Police.
The EO noted the concerns raised by various groups on the Philippines’ implementation of International Labor Organization Convention No. 87, “in view of reported incidents of acts of violence, extra-judicial killings, harassment, suppression of trade union rights, and red-tagging allegedly perpetrated by state agents, targeting in particular certain trade unions and workers’ organizations.”
ILO Convention No. 87 enjoins member states to ensure freedom of association and the right to organize laborers. The Philippines is a member of the ILO, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
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“At the 108th session of the International Labor Conference (ILC) in June 2019, a high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) was created to inquire into the aforementioned reported incidents in the purpose of assisting the Philippine government in taking immediate and effective action on the following specific areas: (i) measures to prevent violence in relation to the exercise of legitimate activities by workers’ organizations; (ii) investigation of allegations of violence against members of workers’ organizations with a view of establishing the facts, determining culpability and punishing the perpetrators; (iii) operationalization of monitoring bodies; and (iv) measures to ensure that all workers, without distinction, are able to form and join organizations of their choosing, in accordance to ILO Convention No. 87,” the EO said.
The functions of the committee include the consolidation and evaluation of all comprehensive reports, which contain findings and recommendations by concerned agencies to be submitted to the President; and developing a roadmap containing the priority areas of action, tangible deliverables, clear responsibilities, and appropriate timeframes, consistent with the recommendations of the HLTM.
“The roadmap shall be subject to regular review and should consider the consolidated reports and recommendations from the concerned agencies and inputs from other relevant stakeholders,” the EO stated.
