Allegations: The complainant organizations allege the extrajudicial killings of three trade union leaders and denounce the failure of the Government to adequately investigate these cases and bring the perpetrators to justice. The complainants further allege the use of threats and murder attempts against a fourth trade union leader and his family, who have been forced into hiding, and denounce the Government’s failure to adequately investigate this case and protect the victims. The failure to investigate and prosecute in these cases would have reinforced the climate of impunity, violence and insecurity with its damaging effect on the exercise of trade union rights
- 523. The Committee last examined this case (submitted in February 2016) at its October 2018 meeting, when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 387th Report, paras 629–654 approved by the Governing Body at its 334th Session].
- 524. The Government provides partial observations in communications dated 31 May and 1 October 2019.
- 525. The Philippines has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).
A. Previous examination of the case
A. Previous examination of the case- 526. At its October 2018 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 387th Report, para. 654]:
- (a) Stressing the importance which it places on rapidly identifying the perpetrators of violence against trade unionists and bringing them to justice in order to combat impunity and promote a climate free from violence, intimidation and fear in which freedom of association may be fully exercised and recalling that the murders of Antonio “Dodong” Petalcorin, Emilio Rivera and Kagi Alimudin Lucman took place in 2013, the Committee once again expresses its firm expectation that the perpetrators will be brought to trial and convicted without further delay, and requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made in this regard, including the current status of these cases, and to provide a copy of the relevant judgments as soon as they are handed down.
- (b) The Committee draws the special attention of the Governing Body to the serious and urgent nature of the matters dealt with in this case.
B. The Government’s reply
B. The Government’s reply- 527. In its communications dated 31 May and 1 October 2019, the Government informs that it continues to coordinate with the concerned law enforcement agencies for the resolution of the cases. In particular, reports from the Philippine National Police (PNP) dated 10 and 13 June 2019 indicate that: (i) in the case of Emilio Rivera, the accused person has a standing arrest warrant against him but is at large and the investigator-on-case is still conducting a follow-up operation to gather relevant information for the apprehension of the suspect; (ii) concerning the case of Antonio Petalcorin, a case for murder was filed in March 2017 against two suspects through the regular filing procedure and an arrest warrant has been issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 54, Ecoland in Davao City but the suspects are still at large; (iii) as to the case of attempted murder of Carlos Cirilo, previously examined by the Committee, the police conducted a follow-up investigation to locate possible witnesses of the grenade-throwing incident but to no avail.
- 528. The Government further states that, in a report from August 2019, the Regional Tripartite Monitoring Body-Region XI (RTMB-XI) maintains its 2018 recommendation on these cases, affirming that “considering that a case for murder was already filed and the investigator of the case is conducting continuing follow-up investigation to apprehend the suspect and gather any relevant information for the development of the said case, it cannot be said that the State lacks adequate investigations, prosecutions, and independent judicial inquiries into the murder”. The RTMB-XI likewise recommends that the PNP and judicial agencies continue to pursue investigations, prosecutions and judicial resolutions in order to resolve the case and upon receipt of any information that can help in the case development, the RTMB-XI will also coordinate with the PNP and judicial agencies.
C. The Committee’s conclusions
C. The Committee’s conclusions- 529. The Committee recalls that the present case concerns allegations of the extrajudicial killings of three trade union leaders and the failure of the Government to adequately investigate these cases and bring the perpetrators to justice, reinforcing the climate of impunity, violence and insecurity with its damaging effect on the exercise of trade union rights.
- 530. With regard to the status of the cases concerning the murders of Antonio “Dodong” Petalcorin, Emilio Rivera and Kagi Alimudin Lucman (recommendation (a)), while taking due note of the Government’s indication that it continues to coordinate with the concerned law enforcement agencies for the resolution of the cases, and in particular, that the suspects in the cases of Emilio Rivera and Antonio Petalcorin have an arrest warrant pending against them and that the investigator is conducting a continuing follow-up investigation to apprehend the suspects, the Committee observes that similar information has been previously provided by the Government and regrets that no substantial progress appears to have been made in bringing the perpetrators to justice in these cases, despite the fact that the murders took place in 2013 and that the Government has indicated on several occasions that they were being handled and investigated through the regular processes of criminal investigation and prosecution. The Committee further notes the information provided on the case of Carlos Cirilo but regrets that no specifics were provided as to the current status of the investigations in the case of Kagi Alimudin Lucman. The Committee observes in this regard that the 2018 Committee of Experts expressed the firm hope that all remaining alleged cases of violations of trade union rights would be the subject of appropriate and vigorous investigations, as well as effective measures to ensure accountability, and that the 2019 Committee on the Application of Standards also noted with concern the lack of investigation in relation to numerous allegations of murders of trade unionists and anti-union violence and requested the Government to take effective measures to prevent violence in relation to the exercise of workers’ and employers’ organizations legitimate activities and to immediately and effectively undertake investigations into such allegations with a view to establishing the facts, determining culpability and punishing the perpetrators.
- 531. In these circumstances, recalling that acts of intimidation and physical violence against trade unionists constitute a grave violation of the principles of freedom of association and the failure to protect against such acts amounts to a de facto impunity, which can only reinforce a climate of fear and uncertainty highly detrimental to the exercise of trade union rights [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 90] and stressing the importance which it places on rapidly identifying the perpetrators of violence against trade unionists and bringing them to justice in order to combat impunity and promote a climate free from violence, intimidation and fear in which freedom of association may be fully exercised, the Committee once again expresses its firm expectation that the perpetrators in the three mentioned cases will be brought to trial and convicted without further delay and trusts that the Government will continue to make every effort in this regard. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made, including the current status of these cases, and to provide a copy of the relevant judgments as soon as they are handed down.
The Committee’s recommendations
The Committee’s recommendations- 532. In light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
- (a) Stressing the importance which it places on rapidly identifying the perpetrators of violence against trade unionists and bringing them to justice in order to combat impunity and promote a climate free from violence, intimidation and fear in which freedom of association may be fully exercised and recalling that the murders of Antonio “Dodong” Petalcorin, Emilio Rivera and Kagi Alimudin Lucman took place in 2013, the Committee once again expresses its firm expectation that the perpetrators will be brought to trial and convicted without further delay and trusts that the Government will continue to make every effort in this regard. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made, including the current status of these cases, and to provide a copy of the relevant judgments as soon as they are handed down.
- (b) The Committee draws the special attention of the Governing Body to the serious and urgent nature of the matters dealt with in this case.
