Labor report flags hostile climate for Philippine unions

QUEZON CITY — A labor rights monitoring network on April 27, 2026, launched its 2025 Workers’ Rights Watch Report, warning that workplace gains by Filipino workers are being undermined by violence, red-tagging, harassment and structural barriers to union organizing.

The Workers’ Rights Watch network launched the report at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in partnership with the Danish Trade Union Development Agency and with support from the European Union.

The report, titled “The State of Freedom of Association in the Philippines,” said the country’s labor rights situation remains marked by a contradiction: workers continue to win collective bargaining agreements, regularization cases and legal victories, but do so in what the report described as a “hostile, repressive, and structurally unequal” environment.

Workers’ groups recorded gains in 2025, including the regularization of 74 electronics workers at Cirtek Corp. and 500 contractual workers in Palawan.

The report also cited favorable legal reinstatements and the dismissal or acquittal of some cases involving illegal arrest and detention of unionists.

Other cases, however, remain under preliminary proceedings or trial, according to the report.

“While we celebrate the resilience of workers who continue to win collective bargaining agreements, we cannot ignore that these victories are won in a shrinking civic space. This report serves as a call to action for the government to move beyond policies and commitments.” Federation of Free Workers National President Atty. Jose Sonny Matula said.

The report documented 109 extrajudicial killings of workers since 2016 and said none had meaningfully progressed to a court trial.

It also documented four killings in 2025 involving individuals linked to labor organizing and anti-corruption advocacy.

The WRW said red-tagging, surveillance and harassment remained the most widespread violations, with 69 documented cases affecting about 11,280 victims, including thousands of public school teachers.

The report said the government’s anti-insurgency policies have been used to create fear in communities by framing labor organizing and public criticism of injustice as security risks.

The report also highlighted gendered impacts, saying families of victims, especially women, suffered trauma and harassment while taking on the combined burden of caregiving and providing for their households after partners were abducted or killed.

The WRW acknowledged government and employer initiatives, including Executive Order No. 97, which adopted omnibus guidelines on freedom of association and civil liberties.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued EO 97 on Sept. 19, 2025, adopting guidelines intended to strengthen constitutional protections for workers’ self-organization, collective bargaining and peaceful assembly.

The WRW report, however, said EO 97 lacks penalties for erring state security forces and does not cover all worker sectors.

The report also cited Department Order 256-26, which amended the implementing rules of the Tripartism Law, or Republic Act No. 10395, by expanding the composition of the Regional Tripartite Monitoring Body.

The Department of Labor and Employment issued Department Order 256-26 on March 31, 2026, revising the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 10395.

DOLE also reported pilot-testing a specialized freedom of association training program for workers, employers, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Commission on Human Rights, with support from the International Labor Organization.

The report said the Bipartite Joint Action Plan between employers and workers’ groups on freedom of association showed a growing commitment to addressing labor concerns through social dialogue.

The WRW said such measures must be matched by robust and dynamic implementation to translate into fair labor practices on the ground.

A key finding of the report was uneven geographic distribution in reported labor rights violations.

The WRW said reported violations were concentrated in industrial hubs such as the National Capital Region, which had 17 cases, and Calabarzon, which had 29 cases.

The report said the low number of cases reported in the Visayas and Mindanao likely reflected gaps in monitoring and reporting, not the absence of violations.

The WRW said it must expand its reach by gathering and training more watchdogs within trade unions and local communities.

The report said stronger grassroots documentation is necessary to expose and address labor rights violations in the Visayas, Mindanao and remote industrial zones.

“We commend the WRW Network for its commitment to making these realities evident. We call on all partners to intensify monitoring efforts and establish sustainable regional hubs that can anchor rapid response systems for workers around the country.” Ms. Lotte Ellegaard, head of the DTDA Asia Office, said.

The report urged the Philippine government to conduct immediate and independent investigations into all allegations of violence and extrajudicial killings against union members.

The WRW also called for perpetrators to be held accountable.

The network advocated for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, saying it would help stop the red-tagging of labor groups.

The report also urged amendments to EO 97 to include clear penalties for state actors who violate the right to freedom of association and to cover public sector workers.

On legislation, the WRW called for the passage of the Magna Carta for BPO Workers and the Protektadong Online Workers, Employees, Riders, at Raketera, or POWERR, Bill.

The report said these measures are needed to protect business process outsourcing and platform workers from further rights violations.

The network also called for the adoption of the Writ of Manggagawa.

The WRW pushed for an easier registration process, including the “Request for Sole and Exclusive Bargaining Agent Recognition” for newly organized unions in unorganized establishments.

The report also urged the passage of a Security of Tenure Law, Fair Salary Standardization Law, Human Rights Defenders Law, Public Service Labor Relations Act and measures implementing International Labor Organization Conventions 151 and 190.

ILO Convention 151 covers labor relations in public service, while Convention 190 addresses violence and harassment in the world of work.

The WRW said these reforms are necessary to ensure that the legal framework evolves to protect all sectors of the modern workforce.

The launch was supported by the DTDA and EU through a human rights and inclusive development project.

The WRW said the EU-funded initiative serves as a safeguard for democratic values and a catalyst for accountability.

The network said documenting labor rights violations helps ensure that the rights of Filipino workers are not rendered invisible.

The WRW and its partners said they remain committed to defending democratic values and ensuring that workers can organize and bargain collectively without fear of retaliation.

The network also called for a just and humane government.

The Workers’ Rights Watch was formed as part of a commitment to the International Labor Organization High-Level Tripartite Mission, which visited the Philippines in January 2023 to address freedom of association concerns and reports of anti-union violence.

The WRW is composed of members from the Federation of Free Workers, Kilusang Mayo Uno, National Federation of Sugar Workers, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Confederation for Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees, Migrante Philippines, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation, Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the Crispin B. Beltran Resource Center.