The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) expressed optimism Monday that the review of the International Labor Organization (ILO) High Level Mission on the Philippine’s implementation of Convention No. 87 which will commence today, will help bridge the gap among workers, employers and the government.

The ILO Convention 87 refers to the freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, which the Philippines ratified in 1953. The Philippine Constitution and the Labor Code give effect to the Convention.

“The government's acceptance of the ILO mission underscored its commitment as a democratic institution to respect and promote the principles of the freedom of association and the right of workers and employers to organize as embodied in Convention 87,’’ Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque said.

“The mission is here not to find fault but to constructively assist the social partners find measures to bring into full compliance the country's application of  Convention 87,’’ he added.

Roque said the ILO mission will deliberate on cases involving complaints filed by certain workers’ groups with the ILO, including cases on killings of trade unionists. He admitted there were problems and gaps in the application of the Convention both in law and in practice in the country.

Roque clarified, however, that the report of labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) about labor-related killings in the country was exaggerated.

KMU had reported to the ILO that the Philippines has 92 labor-related killings, which are in violation of the Convention.

Based on records, Roque said there were only 39 labor-related cases. Of this figure, 24 involved the same persons indicated by Karapatan as victims of political killings, 13 were possible labor-related in which victims are either union organizers or union members, while some were believed to be ordinary crimes and not related to Convention 87.

In a statement released earlier, KMU criticized Roque for allegedly downplaying attacks against trade union leaders.

The ILO office in Manila said that the ILO mission team include Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the ILO International Labour Standards Department, Ms. Karen Curtis, Deputy Director of the ILO International Labour Standards Department and responsible for Freedom of Association, and Tim de Meyer, International Labour Standards Specialist of the ILO Subregional Office for East Asia.