Philippines

The Philippine have a CPI score of 34 (0=highly corrupt, 100=very clean) which means the risk of corruption is high.

Although it is prohibited by law to employ children under 15, child labour is a widespread problem in the Philippines. However, timber is not included in the list of goods produced using child labour and the list shows nof goods produced using forced labour.

Research executed by Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2018 found that women in the Philippines are in danger of trafficking includes forced labour. In the 2020 trafficking in persons report, the Philippines is classified as a Tier 1 country which means that the government meets the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

Discrimination at work is mentioned in relation to women, Indigenous peoples, LGTBI people, persons with disabilities and with HIV/AIDS.

According to the Freedom House Country List, the Philippines is considered “partly free” which means there is an oppressive regime regarding civil liberties. This includes arbitrary and unlawful interference with privacy (US Department of State, 2019f). Press freedom is limited; with a score of 45,54 (0=best possible score, 100=worst possible score) the country ranks 136 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index. The US Department of State reports in 2019 that in the Philippines the worst forms of restrictions on free expression and the press, including violence, threats of violence, and unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, and the existence of criminal libel laws, are observed.

In the Philippines there are persistent issues regarding Indigenous peoples rights. Also, significant problems with the independence of the judiciary have been reported. In 2019, attacks against human rights defenders increased.

It’s reported that there’s a weak judicial system and inconsistent application of legislation, including on procurement, tax and land use, as the main political risk in the Philippines. The process is slow and there is low public trust and confidence in the judiciary.

The Filipino law protects the right to form and join trade unions, conduct legal strikes and bargain collectively, except for the military and police. Labour laws apply uniformly throughout the country. There is a difference in rights that apply for regular or permanent employees and short-term contractual labour. The use of short-term contractual labour is widespread in the Philippines, especially by large private sector companies. In the special economic zones, often non-permanent employment contracts are used (fixed-term, casual, temporary, seasonal) which, combined with restricted access to these zones, makes the organisation of unions little successful.

The Philippines is listed among the world’s ten worst countries for workers with violence and murder, arbitrary arrests and union busting (“red-tagging”) practices. The country scores a 5 on the ITUC Global Rights Index (scale 1-5) for freedom of association and workers’ rights which stands for no guarantee of rights. While legislation may include rights, in practice workers have no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices. It is the country with the highest number of killings of human rights defenders in Asia: in 2015, ten human rights defenders were murdered.

There is a high fiduciary risk, meaning financial resources are not used for the intended purpose, effectively or are not properly accounted for. The government’s weak public financial management and procurement systems is shown by a weak procurement and regulatory framework, inefficient budget execution, lack of budget credibility, poor strategic allocation of resources and weak internal controls, accounting and reporting. All of the above are linked to a weak revenue and tax administration, despite administration’s reforms.

The Philippines is considered a ‘high risk’ country for terroristic attacks on the Aon Terrorism Risk Map, considered as level 4 (1-5 scale).

Among significant human rights issues reported in 2019 are unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors as well as reports of forced disappearance, torture and arbitrary detention by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors plus harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. During a recent campaign against illegal drugs, the government illegally killed thousands of suspected drug dealers and users. Authorities and the police are not held accountable for human rights violations. Finally, there is unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers by terrorists and groups in rebellion against the Filipino government.