The government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has harassed and threatened union leaders and their members by accusing them of being combatants or supporters of the communist insurgency, putting them at great risk of harassment and violence. This practice, known as “red-tagging,” has led labour activists to withdraw from unions and individual unions to end their affiliations with trade union federations critical of the government.
Harassment and threats, and at times violence, over months and years take a toll on union leaders, activists, and their families. On March 7, 2021, in an incident known as “Bloody Sunday,” police and the military raided union offices in three provinces and killed nine people. Most of those killed had either been red-tagged or belonged to groups that had been red-tagged. Successive Philippine governments have red-tagged leftist activists, journalists, and human rights defenders, as well as labour activists. Several union leaders and members describes heightened threats since 2022 against leaders of at least seven unions during collective bargaining.
Human Rights Watch research in the Southern Tagalog region, south of Manila, where many foreign companies operate in “special economic zones,” found that local officials and members of the police or military repeatedly visit the homes of union leaders and officers, and threaten action against them for allegedly being members or sympathizers of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. When those targeted were not at home, the officials would pressure their family members to convince them not to support the NPA. Because of many past killings of labour activists who had been red-tagged, those targeted and their relatives said the harassment made them fear for their lives.
“It’s clear to us that the Philippine government is using red-tagging to prevent workers from organizing and unionizing,” said Jerome Adonis, the secretary-general of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement, commonly known as KMU), the largest left-wing national trade union federation. Over the years, many KMU leaders and activists have been targets of red-tagging, and the KMU reports that 72 union leaders and members have been killed since 2016. Red-tagging has led to at least two unions ending their affiliation with the KMU and to a reduction in the number of unionized workers across the Philippines in recent years.
In 2018, then-President Rodrigo Duterte created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, the agency that has been at the forefront of red-tagging. The anti-communist task force provides funds for development projects to barangays (villages and urban neighborhoods) with an alleged NPA presence. Barangay officials are then required to ensure that their communities are free from communist influence, and local officials and residents are called upon to report any NPA presence or activity to the task force, a practice that provides incentives for red-tagging.
The task force has also encouraged red-tagging against student and youth activists, women’s groups, environmentalists and Indigenous peoples, religious groups, journalists, teachers, and even members of the judiciary.
In early 2023, a high-level International Labour Organization (ILO) mission to the Philippines determined that the Philippine government had done “very little” to stop or minimize violations of workers' rights, including red-tagging and the killing of union leaders and members. The mission denounced the “mindset” of linking unionism to the communist insurgency.
In April 2023, President Marcos issued Executive Order 23 “to strengthen the coordination and facilitate the resolution of labour cases in the country.” Still, there have been at least four killings of union activists since the ILO mission.
Trade partners of the Philippines should advocate protecting workers' rights. The European Union in particular should press the Philippine government on red-tagging in the renewed negotiations for a free trade agreement, and urge the government to uphold its human and workers' rights obligations as necessary to continue benefiting from trade preferences under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus mechanism.
Companies doing business or whose supply chain partners are in the Philippines should consider the risks and adverse impacts of red-tagging on their employees as part of their human rights due diligence process. Companies should ensure protection of workers on site against harassment and should call on the authorities to end the practice, both directly and in cooperation with others, to avoid being complicit in these abuses.
Source: Human Rights Watch
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