USTR Decision: A Reality Check for the Arroyo Administration (July 10, 2008)

Washington DC – The United States Trade Representative (USTR) July 3 decision to keep the Philippines under “active scrutiny” for violations of international labor is a welcome development for Filipino American human rights advocates in the U.S. A petition filed by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) in June 2007 requested the inquiry based on the rise in killings of trade union activists from 2001 to 2007 and the Arroyo administration’s efforts to deny workers the right of freedom of association. 
 
“We hope this decision brings the Philippines back to reality after riding high on the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to appoint it as Vice-President,” said Katrina Abarcar, Coordinator of Katarungan: Center for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in the Philippines. “Hopefully, the Arroyo administration will understand the international community is looking for justice through concrete results and not just a PR campaign.”
 
According to Ms. Abarcar, within the GRP’s response to ILRF’s petition, it flatly states that the labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) serves as “the labor arm to the CPP-NPA-NDF” without offering any concrete evidence. “The GRP claims that ‘unions allied with the KMU openly identify their KMU affiliation in their union activities without any adverse or hostile reaction from the government.’ But in the same breath their labeling the KMU as a front or arm of the CPP-NPA-NDF makes all those affiliated with it subject to harassment and violence for committing ‘rebellion,’” said Ms. Abarcar.
 
The GRP’s policy of categorizing civil society organizations in the country as fronts for the CPP-NPA has been widely criticized by individuals and institutions including UN Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston.  This practice has been blamed for the extra-judicial killings of hundreds of civil society leaders and activists, including trade union leaders, in the Philippines.
 
The USTR decision is the latest in a line of high profile criticisms the Philippines has received from the investment and business community. In 2006, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and several US apparel giants including American Eagle, the Gap, Polo-Ralph Lauren and Wal-Mart all wrote letters raising concern about the extrajudicial killings and worker repression.
 
According to Ms. Abarcar, there is no question that there have been serious violations of internationally recognized labor laws in the Philippines. “The dead bodies of trade union leaders don’t lie. The fact that these union activists all belonged to unions affiliated with the KMU puts into question how free workers really are to associate with whatever organization they want,” said Ms. Abarcar.
 
“Furthermore, the Arroyo administration’s miserable track record in prosecuting and convicting those who murder and abduct trade unionists should also be considered a violation of labor standards. It creates an environment where workers exercising their legitimate rights can be harassed and even killed with impunity,” concluded Ms. Abarcar.