Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Philippines (Ratification: 1960)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. 1. The Committee noted previously that under section 142 of the revised Penal Code a penalty of imprisonment may be imposed upon persons who incite others by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, to acts constituting sedition, who utter seditious words or speeches, who write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the Government. Under section 154(1) a penalty of imprisonment may be imposed on any person who by means of printing, lithography or any other means of publication shall maliciously publish as news any false news which may endanger the public order or cause damage to the interests or credit of the State.

The Committee recalled that the Convention prohibits the use of any form of forced or compulsory labour as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system.

The Committee requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the persons protected by the Convention may not be punished by penalties of imprisonment (involving, under section 1727 of the Revised Administrative Code, an obligation to work), and to provide information on the practical application of the above-mentioned provisions.

The Committee notes the Government's repeated indication in its report that forced labour is not resorted to in the Philippines and penalty of forced labour is neither prescribed nor allowed in the case of sedition, illegal strikes and other cases.

The Committee wishes, once again, to refer to paragraphs 102 to 109 as well as 123 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced or compulsory labour, in which it indicated that labour imposed on persons as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law will in most cases have no relevance to the application of the Convention, but that, on the other hand, any form of compulsory labour, including prison labour, is covered by the Convention if imposed in any of the five cases specified in the Convention.

The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to inform on action taken to bring legislation into conformity with the Convention.