Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

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

The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply to its previous direct request. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

Article 1(a) of the Convention. The Committee noted previously that under section 142 of the revised penal Code a penalty of imprisonment may be imposed upon persons who by means of speeches, proclamations, writings or emblems incite others to act constituting sedition; utter seditious words or speeches; or 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 maliciously publishes 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 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 indiction in its report that forced labour is not resorted to in the Philippines and that no penalty of forced labour is either prescribed or allowed in the case of sedition, illegal strikes or 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 labour, in which it indicated that labour imposed 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 provide information on action taken to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention.