Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/philippi.txu

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TITLE:  THE PHILIPPINES HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

There are virtually no legal restrictions on freedom of
expression or speech.  The Government generally respects
freedom of the press, and courts are consistent in their
protection of the media.  There are some 25 privately owned
newspapers in Manila and many more in the provinces that cover
the political spectrum and freely criticize the Government.
(Most are owned or controlled by politicians and prominent
businessmen.)  Radio and television also enjoy considerable
freedom.  Communist publications became legal with the repeal
of the Antisubversion Law in 1992.  Journalists were able
without legal penalty to meet and interview both Communist
insurgents and military rebels.

The press, however, continues to face hazards in reporting on
gambling, illegal logging, governmental corruption, and the
drug trade.  The dangers are greatest outside Manila where
powerful vested interests involved in such activities sometimes
employ violence to discourage media exposes.  The journalists
at risk are primarily radio broadcasters whose public affairs
programs reach a much wider audience than either newspapers or
televisions.  The Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF),
an NGO, reported that in the first 8 months of 1994 three
journalists, two of them radio broadcasters, were killed.  The
PMPF also reported several cases of journalists being assaulted
or harassed, usually by local police or employees of local
politicians.

The Government respects academic freedom in theory and
practice.  It does not censor subject matter in classes,
university publications, or conferences.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The law requires permits from local authorities for outdoor
demonstrations in public places and these are routinely
issued.  Nevertheless, rallies and marches are often held
without permits.  Some of them are forcefully broken up when
they interfere with traffic or are otherwise disruptive.
Private, professional, religious, social, charitable, labor,
and political organizations are permitted to affiliate with
recognized international bodies in their fields.

An exception to this rule was the Asia Pacific Conference on
East Timor held in late May at the University of the
Philippines.  In an unsuccessful effort to lower the profile of
the Conference, particularly after Indonesian expressions of
concern, the Government banned over 30 conference delegates
from entering the country, including a Nobel laureate and the
wife of the French President.  The conference was nearly
canceled when a trial court ruling by a military judge banned
it.  However, the Conference, minus the banned delegates, was
held after a last minute decision by the Supreme Court that
cited constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and
assembly.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Government respects freedom of religion and does not
discriminate against any religious group or its members.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Filipinos enjoy the freedom to change their place of residence
and employment within the Philippines.  Movement within the
country is largely unimpeded.  With rare exceptions, such as
pending court cases, Filipinos are allowed to travel and work
abroad.

The Government for years provided first asylum to Indochinese
boat people, allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) immediate access, and managed the refugee
status determination process (screening) in accordance with the
Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) agreed on in Geneva in
1989.  As a result of completion of the screening process and
the June CPA steering committee meeting held in Bangkok, the
Government announced the closure of all refugee and asylum
seeker camps in the Philippines by the end of 1994.  This
decision was made in compliance with a resolution of the CPA
meeting calling for termination of the CPA and repatriation of
the estimated 48,000 nonrefugees in the region by the end of
1995.

By October 1, there were approximately 4,500 Vietnamese asylum
seekers remaining in the Philippines, of whom only about 1,500
had been determined to be "refugees" pending resettlement in
third countries.  The Government stated that it screened out
individuals (nonrefugees) who did not choose to accept
voluntary repatriation and would be considered for "nonobjector
orderly return" (the repatriation of individuals who have not
previously volunteered but who will not necessarily object if
notified that they must return to Vietnam) beginning October 1.

The Government does not practice forcible repatriation.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens have this right and exercised it in 1992.  The
Philippines has a multiparty political system with periodic
free elections based on universal suffrage for citizens.  In
the legislature, both the House of Representatives and the
Senate are controlled by a loose progovernment coalition, which
does not always vote en bloc on contentious issues.

Many irregularities in the voting and election process mar
political freedoms.  Multiple registrations of the same voter,
nonexistent or dead voters, intimidation of voters, and
extrajudicial killings of candidates and their supporters (see
Section 1.a.), as well as vote-buying, all occur.  These
problems are more acute at the local level, as are political
dynasties, which use some or all of the above methods to
maintain their grip on power.

The estimated 2 to 3 million overseas contract workers (OCW's)
represent a significant block of voters that is effectively
disenfranchised.  Advocates of the rights of OCW's in 1994
began an effort to institute an absentee balloting program.

There are no restrictions in law or practice on participation
by women and minorities in politics.  Twenty-three women serve
in the 215-seat House, 4 in the 24-member Senate, and 3 in the
Cabinet.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Philippines has an active and effective nongovernment
organization community.  There are many domestic human rights
NGO's, including the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
(TFDP), the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the
Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).  The
latter organization represents numerous NGO's that monitor
human rights conditions among various social and occupational
groups.  While these groups operate without government
restriction, they are often viewed with suspicion by the
military and police.  Some local civilian officials also have
been uncooperative.  Employees of human rights groups in the
field have encountered harassment (see Section 1.d.).  A few
have been killed in previous years, but there were no such
killings reported in 1994.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent
government organization and the largest human rights
organization in the Philippines.  In 1994 the CHR chaired 747
public information and education activities, many of which were
designed for audiences of military, police, and other public
officials.  Although it lacks prosecutory powers, it is
constitutionally mandated to investigate all alleged violations
of human rights.  However, a January Supreme Court decision
limited the CHR's powers to investigate civil and political
rights.  The CHR itself recognizes that it has an outdated
organizational structure, budgetary constraints, and a need for
more field offices.  The CHR has been criticized for its
lengthy and cumbersome procedures, its inefficiency, and its
practice of placing the burden of proof on complainants,
despite the risk they may face of reprisals or their lack of
resources.

Representatives of international human rights groups are free
to travel in the Philippines and investigate alleged abuses.
Government officials routinely meet and discuss human rights
problems with foreign governmental and nongovernment
organizations.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women,
children and minority groups.  Implementation of all
constitutional guarantees is at times hindered by lack of
implementing legislation and by budgetary constraints.

     Women

In law but not in practice, women have most of the rights and
protections accorded men.  The Women in Development and Nation
Building Act in 1992 terminated previous restrictions on
women's rights to buy and sell property.  However, the
Government does not fully enforce this legislation.

The Filipino people are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.  The law
does not allow divorce and women's rights advocates view this
as a major barrier to achieving the empowerment of women.
Annulment of marriages is now fairly easy to achieve due to
changes in the Legal Code, and the practice has become more
common.  However, the cost of hiring a lawyer familiar with the
new Code precludes this option for many women.  The practice of
"unofficial divorce" (permanent separation) is common among the
lower classes; in these cases, the wife is usually left with
the children, but the husband provides little or no support for
them.

Women and girls in the lower economic strata are particularly
vulnerable to exploitation by unethical operators who promise
employment overseas or arranged marriages with foreign men.
Some of these women end up working as prostitutes or suffering
abuse at the hands of their foreign employers or husbands.
While in years past the focus of attention was on abused
Filipino maids in Kuwait and other Gulf states, in 1994 the
condition of Filipino "entertainers" in Japan and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands generated
considerable press attention.  Either through international
trafficking syndicates or individual employers, Filipino women
were often recruited to work abroad as maids, entertainers, or
models and required to participate in public shows or dances
where nudity and the prospect of sex was the principal
attraction.  Others, facing bleak employment prospects at home,
accepted questionable jobs in the knowledge that they would be
required to engage in prostitution.  In order to curb such
abuses, the Government campaigned to end illegal recruiting and
raised the minimum age and educational standards for young
women seeking jobs abroad.  It also expanded its labor attache
corps in countries with large overseas contract worker
communities and worked with foreign governments and NGO's to
provide more effective protection for Filipino workers at risk
for sexual or economic exploitation.

Violence against women, particularly domestic violence, is a
serious problem.  The Women's Crisis Center, an NGO assisting
abused and battered women, reported that it receives over 100
calls a week from battered women in the metropolitan Manila
area.  Women's advocates point to poverty, double standards of
morality, lack of laws on domestic violence, and a traditional
societal reluctance to discuss private family affairs, as some
of the reasons for the prevalence of domestic violence.  No
divorce rights and the lack of job opportunities combine to
limit the ability of women to escape destructive relationships.

Rape continues to be a major problem; its frequency is
estimated as high as one every 6 minutes.  The incidence of
reported rape, however, is estimated by the Philippine National
Police to be 20 percent or lower.  Police said that reported
rape cases in the first quarter of 1994 increased 17 percent
over the same period in 1993.  Women's groups charge that
accused rapists are dealt with leniently by the male-dominated
law enforcement and judicial systems.  According to women's
groups, many women accept rape as part of the culture.  Many
rape victims are minors, who accept incestuous relationships,
rather than subject the family to public embarrassment.

Proposed House legislation seeks to change the definition of
rape (classifying it as a crime against a person, i.e., a
public offense, rather than a crime against chastity, i.e., a
private offense) and to expand the circumstances and conditions
in which rape is considered to have been committed.  The
proposed laws, which face resistance in the House, would make
marital rape a crime.  They would also allow a rape victim's
family or the state to file a complaint on her behalf.  The
laws do not, however, seek to increase the severity of the
penalties for this crime.

In response to these problems, the PNP started the PNP Women's
Desk program designed to protect women against, and encourage
the reporting of, crimes against women.  PNP stations include
female officers trained in dealing with victims of sexual
crimes and domestic violence.

In June a high profile case of sexual harassment involving two
senior government officials focused attention on sexual
harassment in the workplace.  A 1993 survey by the Institute of
Labor Studies found workplace sexual harassment to be
widespread, yet the problem is underreported due to victims'
reticence and fears of losing their jobs.  In September the
Supreme Court upheld a decision that found sexual harassment
was "valid cause for separation from service."

Prostitution is illegal but widespread and a fact of life for
many poorer Filipinos with limited access to a more acceptable
career or standard of living.  Penalties for prostitution are
light.

Women also face discrimination in employment.  Among
administrative, executive, and managerial workers, the average
woman's salary was only one-third of that of her male
counterparts.

     Children

Several government agencies have programs devoted to the
education, welfare, and development of children.

In 1994 the Commission on Human Rights opened its Child Rights
Center designed to monitor and investigate violations of
children's rights.  Sweeping legislation was passed in 1992 to
protect children's rights, but the Government has not
implemented it due to lack of funding and its failure to
coordinate enforcement among the many agencies involved.

Societal values that define children as extensions and property
of the parents are a key factor in limiting children's rights.
Courts tend to give precedence to parental authority over the
rights of a child.

Many Filipino children face serious problems stemming from
widespread poverty and the Government's inability to eradicate
organized abuses involving child labor and child prostitution.
One children's rights organization estimates that there are up
to 100,000 child prostitutes in the Philippines.  Although the
authorities have staged some successful raids on brothels and
massage parlors, freeing underaged girls forced to work as
prostitutes, the problem remains a large scale one.

Street begging and truancy are common in large cities.  The CHR
estimates the number of street orphans in metropolitan Manila
at fewer than 1,000, but up to 100,000 destitute children spend
most of their waking hours on the streets.

The rates of child abuse and beatings and child rape alarm the
authorities; several men have been sentenced to death for the
rape of their daughters.  Many children have been orphaned or
otherwise adversely affected by the ongoing insurgencies.

     Indigenous People

Indigenous peoples live throughout the Philippines but
primarily in the mountainous areas of Northern Luzon and
Mindanao.  They account for 10 to 15 percent of the
population.  Although no specific laws discriminate against
indigenous peoples, the remoteness of the areas they inhabit
and a cultural bias against them tend to prevent their full
integration into Philippine society.  Their ability to
participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lands,
cultures, traditions, and the allocation of natural resources
is minimal.  Because they inhabit mountainous areas favored by
guerrillas, indigenous peoples suffer disproportionately from
counterinsurgency operations.  Indigenous children suffer
disproportionately from lack of basic services, such as health
and education facilities.

Although the 1987 Constitution calls for the protection of the
ancestral lands and culture of indigenous peoples, the
Government has not pushed for legislation to enforce these
rights.  What indigenous peoples regard as "development
aggression"--the utilization of their lands for hydroelectric
dams, mining operations, and other large-scale development
projects--often forces their relocation and the destruction of
farming and hunting lands they have used for centuries.  The
Government does little to secure indigenous peoples' claims to
such lands.  Nonetheless, in June the Government granted land
rights for 108,000 hectares of land to 3,000 Bugkalot families
in Quirino province.  In addition, a Philippine Senator has
proposed the creation of a commission on ancestral domains to
conserve the lands for the benefit of cultural minorities.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Although people of Chinese ancestry have extensively
intermarried with other Filipinos and are relatively well
assimilated, there is a distinct Filipino-Chinese community
numbering perhaps 1 to 2 percent of the population.  This
minority plays a prominent role in the national economy and is
the object of some resentment by the general population.  As
noted in Section 1.b., the Chinese have been a primary target
of kidnaping for ransom.  In 1994 Filipino-Chinese businessmen
were also the targets of an extortion scheme involving judges
and customs officials.  The judges issued false search warrants
to the customs officials who, upon serving the warrants,
offered to accept bribes to fix the matter.

     Religious Minorities

Muslims, who comprise about 5 percent of the total population
and are reside principally in Mindanao and adjacent islands,
constitute the largest minority group in the country.  They
historically have been alienated from the dominant Christian
majority, and efforts to integrate Muslims into the political
and economic fabric of the country have met with only limited
success.

Philippine culture, with its emphasis on familial, tribal, and
regional loyalties, creates informal barriers whereby access to
jobs or resources is provided first to those of one's own
family or group.  Many Muslims claim that they continue to be
underrepresented in senior civilian and military positions.

There are one Muslim Supreme Court justice, one Muslim Senator
(a woman), and eight Muslim Congressmen.

The Government inaugurated the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) in November 1990 to meet the demands of Muslims
for local autonomy in areas where they hold a majority or are a
substantial minority.  However, the ARMM is limited to the four
provinces which elected to join; it is regarded as an arbitrary
creation of the Government and as falling short of representing
the aspirations of all Muslims in the region, including the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC).  The ARMM Government is hobbled
by an inadequate tax base, poor performance, and a continued
shortfall in promised central government assistance.

     People with Disabilities

A 1983 law provides for equal physical access for the disabled
to all public buildings and establishments, and a law passed in
1992 provides for "the rehabilitation, self-development, and
self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into
the mainstream of society."  Advocates of the handicapped
maintain that these laws are not enforced fully, citing
inadequate government funding, widespread evasion, and
lingering prejudice against the handicapped among many
Filipinos.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution and legislation provide for the right of
workers, including public employees, to form and join trade
unions and this right is exercised in practice.  Trade unions
are independent of the Government and generally free of
political party control.  Unions have the right to form or join
federations or other labor groupings, and several have
affiliated with international trade union confederations and
trade secretariats.  The largest federation, the Trade Union
Congress of the Philippines is affiliated with the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.  Unions
oppose government efforts to loosen prohibitions against "labor
only" subcontracting, which they claim allows employers to
evade obligations to their employees and helps them to break
unions.

Subject to certain procedural restrictions, strikes in the
private sector are legal. However, a 1989 law stipulates that
all means of reconciliation must be exhausted and that the
strike issue has to be relevant to the labor contract or the
law.

The Committee of Experts of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) has expressed concern that certain
provisions of the Labor Code (authorizing the Secretary of
Labor to order compulsory arbitration to avert strikes in
industries deemed indispensable to the national interest) are
not in conformity with the ILO Convention on Freedom of
Association.  In 1994, however, the ILO noted that the
Government sought its assistance in reforming the Labor Code.
International criticism also has focused on the Code's ban on
unfair practices' strikes during the term of a collective
bargaining agreement.

According to the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights
(CTUHR), an organization which publicizes security force
violations, the rights of striking workers continued to be a
problem in 1994.  The CTUHR counted some 70 incidents by
September, involving over 900 alleged victims.  The CTUHR said
police were involved in nearly all these cases, and there also
were instances in which military personnel were involved in
dispersing strikers and dismantling picket lines in their area
of jurisdiction.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Constitution provides for the right to organize and bargain
collectively.  The Labor Code provides for this right for
private sector employees and for employees of government-owned
or controlled corporations, but it provided only limited rights
for certain government workers.  Although unions claim to have
organized almost 11 percent of the total work force of 27
million, only 600,000 workers (2 percent) are covered by
collective bargaining agreements.

Under the law, dismissal of a union official or worker trying
to organize a union is considered an unfair labor practice.
Nevertheless, employers sometimes attempt to intimidate workers
with threats of firing or factory closure.  Allegations of
intimidation and discrimination in connection with union
activities are grounds for review as possible unfair labor
practices before the National Labor Relations Commission
(NLRC).  The CTUHR and many trade unions have filed complaints
before the NLRC alleging workers were dismissed solely to get
rid of union members.  The NLRC and the National Conciliation
and Mediation Board (NCMB) provide the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) with quasi-judicial mechanisms for hearing
and adjudicating workers' claims.  The process has been slow.

There were several dozen strikes during the year, fewer than in
previous years.

Labor law and practice are uniform throughout the country,
including in export processing zones (EPZ's).  Except for the
Bataan EPZ, unions have not been able to organize zone
workers--some labor sources attribute this failure to employer
resistance and antiunion discrimination by EPZ authorities.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Forced labor is prohibited, and the Government effectively
enforces this prohibition.  The Government investigates and
attempts to act upon reports of abuse of Philippine workers
overseas.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The Child Protection Act of 1992 prohibits the employment of
children below age 15, except under the direct and sole
responsibility of parents or guardians or where employment in
cinema, theater, radio, or television is essential.  The Labor
Code allows employment for those between the ages of 15 and 18
for such hours and periods of the day as are determined by the
Secretary of Labor but forbids employment of persons under 18
years of age in hazardous or deleterious work.  However, a
significant number of children are employed in the informal
sector of the urban economy or as field laborers in rural
areas.  The most serious, industrywide violations of child
labor law occur in clothing related production, much of which
is exported.

Children continue to be employed in a dangerous form of coral
reef fishing, which exposes them to shark and needlefish
attacks and increases their vulnerability to disease.  The
Government has investigated and attempted to reduce violations
of child labor laws outside the agricultural sector through
well-publicized raids on reported violators.  Relying on tips
provided by concerned NGO's (especially the Kamalayan
Development Center), officials of the DOLE and the National
Bureau of Investigation carried out a number of successful
raids on factories and farms.  The DOLE succeeded in forcing
employers to pay back wages, but court prosecutions encountered
well-known delays.  Secretary of Labor Confesor used radio
programs to warn parents in rural provinces of the danger of
allowing recruiters to lure their children with promises of
"good jobs" in Manila.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

Under the Minimum Wage Act of 1989, tripartite regional wage
boards set minimum wages.  Rates were last revised in late
1993, with the highest in Manila and lowest in rural regions.
The minimum wage for workers in the national capital region
(NCR) was approximately $5.60 (P145) per day.  This amount is
insufficient to provide a worker and his family in the NCR with
a decent standard of living.  Unless at least two family
members are working, this minimum wage will not raise a
family's income above the Government's "poverty threshold."
Wage boards outside the NCR, in addition to establishing lower
minimum levels, also exempted employers according to such
factors as establishment size, industry sector, involvement
with exports, and level of capitalization.  This excludes
substantial numbers of workers (especially in agriculture,
domestics, laborers, janitors, messengers, and drivers) from
coverage under the law.  Although unions have called for a
nation-wide increase, the Ramos administration favors leaving
responsibility for minimum wage adjustments with the regional
wage boards.  DOLE surveys showed that in the first half of
1994, 25 percent of the inspected establishments violated the
minimum wage law.  Given the difficulty of prosecuting cases
through the courts, the DOLE relies on administrative
procedures and moral suasion to encourage voluntary employer
correction of violations (see Section 1.e.)

The standard legal workweek before overtime is 48 hours for
most categories of industrial workers and 40 hours for
government workers, with an 8 hour per day limit.  An overtime
rate of 125 percent of the hourly rate is mandated.  The law
mandates a full day of rest weekly.  The enforcement of
workweek hours is managed through periodic standards
inspections by the DOLE.

A comprehensive set of occupational safety and health (OSH)
standards exists in law.  Although policy formulation and
review of these standards is the responsibility of the DOLE,
actual enforcement is carried out by 14 regional offices.
Statistics on actual work-related accidents and illnesses are
incomplete, as incidents (especially in regard to agriculture)
are underreported.  Workers do not have a legally protected
right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardy to continued employment.