The Labor department on Friday slammed a report saying the Philippines is among the top 10 worst countries in the world for working people.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Philippines had been “unjustly vilified” in the International Trade Union Confederation Global Rights Index 2019, adding Filipino workers actually enjoyed greater protection under the Duterte administration.
“It is unfortunate that ITUC failed to see the consistent efforts of the government in protecting the welfare of the Filipino workers,” Bello said.
He cited the Occupational Safety and Health Law and the Expanded Maternity Leave Law as examples of the government’s efforts to advance the rights and welfare of workers, including the intensified enforcement of labor laws and standards, particularly in ensuring every worker’s right to safe and humane working conditions and to the security of tenure.
Bello said his department was not sleeping on its job and responsibility to protect workers, in the same way, it was mandated to encourage businesses to invest more.
“We remain committed in providing essence to our mandate despite these unwarranted accusations that undermine the genuine efforts of the administration,” he said.
As to the cases of “violence and murder, brutal repression of public protests and repressive laws” among workers, he said, all those were allegations that were not officially reported as labor-related incidents.
“To say that the country has drastically regressed in protecting the workers' rights is a drastically one-sided finding,” Bello said.
He said landmark laws were championing the workers’ greater interest, including the Occupational Safety and Health Law and the Expanded Maternity Leave Law, among others.
He said his department was now hiring 500 additional Labor-Laws-Compliance Officers to complement the assessment of over 900,000 establishments across the country to ensure compliance with general labor laws and standards.