Philippine labour groups hail Senate concurrence with ILO C190 ratification

Under the Philippine Constitution, the ratification of international treaties requires concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate. In the afternoon of December 11, the Senate concurred with the ratification of C190 approving Senate Resolution No. 877 with 20 votes in favor, zero votes against and zero abstention.

The concurrence of the Senate is a historical moment for all Filipino workers and a major victory for the Philippine labor movement. Our Senators have shown that our nation does not tolerate any form of abuse, violence and harassment of our workers. We thank our Senators for their resounding vote for safe, inclusive, and healthy workplaces for all workers.

This victory provides a much-needed boost in our campaign to end violence and harassment in the world of work. We thank Senator Imee Marcos for sponsoring the ratification of C190 in the Senate as the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations. We particularly commend Senator Risa Hontiveros, Chair of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, for working closely with the national trade unions and labor groups in doing the necessary spadework and helping shepherd the concurrence of the Senate with the C190 ratification. We also recognize the strong support and commitment of Majority Floor Leader Senator Joel Villanueva, former Chair of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development, as we worked together for the ratification of this important ILO convention.

The concurrence of the Senate [with ILO C190 ratification] is a historical moment for all Filipino workers and a major victory for the Philippine labor movement.... We thank our Senators for their resounding vote for safe, inclusive, and healthy workplaces for all workers.

The ratification of C190 comes at a crucial time when our workers continue to be subjected to different forms of violence and harassment including physical violence, psychological violence, sexual abuse and economic violence committed by various state and non-state offenders. The concurrence of the Senate with the ratification of ILO C190 is also a significant step towards ensuring decent work for all workers – regardless of employment status and whether from the private or public sectors, or from the formal or informal economy.

Now that the country has ratified C190, we call on our government to prioritize aligning our national policies and institutional mechanisms with the said international labor instrument. We are counting on the government to do its duty post-ratification by instituting the necessary reforms and strengthening the protection for all our workers including the millions of OFWs working abroad. We also look forward to more effective measures in protecting our women workers, persons with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and other workers experiencing various forms of discrimination and violence at work.

The ILO Convention 190 is a landmark instrument against violence and harassment in the world of work. Since its adoption in 2019, the Philippine affiliates of the Global Union Federation-Public Services International (PSI) with the support of Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland (SASK), spearheaded the coordination with other GUFs in the Philippines namely Building and Wood Workers International (BWI), IndustriALL Global Union, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and UNI Global Union to strongly campaigned for its ratification in order to address current policy and institutional gaps in the country and end violence and harassment in the world of work. Thus far, 36 countries have already ratified ILO C190.

The PSI Philippine affiliates who actively lobbied for the ratification of C190 include among others: Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Alliance of Filipino Workers (AFW), Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU), Maynilad Water Supervisors Association (MWSA), Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa GOCCs at GFIs (KAMAGGFI), Alliance of Government Workers in the Water Sector (AGWWAS), Manila Water Employees Union (MWEU), Philippine Independent Public Sector Employees Association (PIPSEA) and the Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA).

Contact persons:

Jillian Roque, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) – Public Services International (PSI) 09088215102; [email protected]

Ian Mariano, PSI-South East Asia, [email protected]