Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Philippines (Ratification: 1960)

1. The Committee notes the results of the study, conducted in 1991 by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), entitled "Survey on Employment and Income Mobility of Women in Metro Manila", and requests the Government to indicate any measures taken to address the findings of the study concerning, among others, male preference in hiring and the compression of women workers into a restricted range of low-income and low-skilled jobs. In this connection, the Committee notes the Government's statement that employers' preference for hiring males based on the inherent requirements of a job is not considered discrimination, but a management prerogative. The Committee would draw the Government's attention to paragraphs 125 to 133 in its 1988 General Survey on equality in employment and occupation, in which it points out that any exception based on the inherent requirements of a job must be interpreted restrictively. For example, if an employer's belief as to whether one sex or another could perform a job was based on a stereotype of a group rather than on an individual's competence for a given task, that decision would not necessarily fall under the exception of the inherent requirements of the job. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any measures taken to ensure a restrictive application of Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Convention in law and practice to employment decisions concerning women.

The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply to its previous comments. It must therefore repeat its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. Referring to its previous direct request, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether consideration is being given to comprehensive machinery to enforce non-discrimination (as was anticipated in Senate Bill No. 119). It hopes the Government will continue to supply information on any other legislative or administrative measures adopted to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

2. While noting that there have been no new developments concerning resolution No. 98-463 of the Civil Service Commission, the Committee would nevertheless be grateful for information on the practical measures taken by the Commission to afford protection to persons who hold and/or express particular political or religious views. Although, according to the report, the Commission has not scheduled any special career examination for members of cultural minorities, the Committee asks the Government to indicate whether efforts are made to encourage their participation in the regular career service examination. Please also provide information on the mechanism created by the Commission to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment on all of the other grounds of the Convention, pursuant to paragraph 3 of the above-mentioned resolution.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to provide the requested information in its next report.