Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Philippines (Ratification: 1976)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. In reply to the 2011 observation, the Government reported in August 2012 that the Worktrep Entrepreneurial Program benefited 100,206 workers in the informal economy in 2008 to establish sustainable businesses, 98,379 in 2009, 76,025 in 2010 and 94,597 in 2011. A Community-Based Employment Program (CBEP) was launched in 2011 which targeted the generation of jobs for infrastructure and non-infrastructure government projects. The CBEP covered 29 implementing agencies and generated 573,445 jobs. The Government reports that the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines made representations to participate in the planning process of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011–16 in order to ensure that employment concerns are mainstreamed as priorities in major government strategies. The Committee notes with interest that the result was an integration of employment concerns and priorities in almost all parts of the plan, primarily macroeconomic policy, industry and service competitiveness strategy, infrastructure development and social development. The PDP estimates the creation of 6 million jobs from 2011 to 2016. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report detailed information regarding the progress made with respect to the implementation of the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan 2011–16 and the other programmes designed to generate employment. Please also provide information on the efforts made to improve the employment situation for workers in the informal economy and the results achieved in terms of designing targeted programmes and incentives for the promotion of sustainable job creation for those working in the informal economy.

Article 3. Participation of social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government reports that Administrative Order No. 21 of October 2011 provides for the election of 14 basic sector representatives to partner with government agencies in drafting policies affecting them. The basic sectors include workers in the formal sector and migrant workers, workers in the informal economy, farmers and landless rural workers, indigenous peoples, women, youth and students, and persons with disabilities. It further reports that the Department of Labor and Employment initiated the formulation of the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan 2011–16 to complement the PDP with more specific strategies, through a consultative process that involved workers, employers, non-government organizations, migrant associations, women’s associations, youth groups and social and economic development lecturers and professors. The Committee previously noted that the task force on the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), was created to benchmark areas for improving regulatory measures affecting private employment agencies. The Government indicated that one of the objectives of this task force is to identify the potential areas of partnership between private recruitment and placement agencies and public employment services and establish mutual cooperation, assistance and collaboration between them in facilitating local employment opportunities. In its General Survey of 2010, the Committee highlighted that the employment services are part of the necessary institutions for the achievement of full employment. In conjunction with the Convention and the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), Convention No. 181 forms a necessary building block for employment growth (see General Survey concerning employment instruments, 2010, paragraphs 785–790). The Committee invites the Government to provide examples of questions addressed and decisions reached on employment policy through tripartite bodies. It also invites the Government to include in its next report information on the involvement of the social partners concerning the measures taken to build institutions for the realization of full employment.

The Committee is raising other points, including employment trends, youth employment and skills, in a request addressed directly to the Government.