The Philippines has been deemed one of the ten worst countries for working people.
According to the Global Workers’ Rights Index of 2018, Manila got a score of 5, the lowest rating, because there is no “no guarantee of rights” and incidents of “intimidation and dismissals, violence, and repressive laws in the country, as reported by ABS-CBN.
The Philippines joined other countries including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
“In the Philippines, India and Bangladesh, workers still struggled to assert their basic right to associate freely and faced the violent opposition of employers,” the report stated.
“Employers frequently used intimidation tactics and dismissals to prevent workers establishing unions,” it also said.
RELATED ARTICLE: Duterte inks EO to stop ‘endo’, urges Congress to strengthen PH Labor Code
On May 1, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a landmark executive order (EO) that seeks to put an end to illegal contractualization in the Philippines.
The president said that the EO prohibits “illegal contracting or subcontracting or undertaking to circumvent the workers’ right to security of tenure”.
“I remain firm in my commitment to put an end to ‘endo’ and illegal contractualization,” he added in his speech in Cebu.
Duterte also expressed confidence that the EO will ease laborers’ worries regarding the lack of security of tenure.
