News and press releases

December 2012

  1. ILO Director-General arrives in the Philippines, extends sympathies to typhoon survivors

    16 December 2012

    The Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Mr Guy Ryder, arrives today in Manila for a two-day visit and extends his sympathies to those who lost their loved-ones a year ago in Washi (Sendong) and more recently by Typhoon Bopha (Pablo).

  2. ILO Director-General visits the Philippines

    14 December 2012

    The Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Mr Guy Ryder, will visit the Philippines from 16 to 17 December. This will be Mr Ryder’s first visit to the Philippines since he was elected on 1 October 2012.

September 2012

  1. Landmark treaty for domestic workers to come into force

    05 September 2012

    The ILO’s Convention on Domestic Workers has now been ratified by two countries, meaning it will come into effect in a year’s time. The Convention extends basic labour rights to tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.

August 2012

  1. Philippines ratification marks global milestone for decent work for seafarers

    21 August 2012

    The Philippines is the 30th Member to have its ratification registered and join the group of the “first 30” ILO countries to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring decent work for seafarer and a level playing field for quality shipowners.

  2. Philippines ratification marks global milestone for decent work for seafarers

    20 August 2012

    The Philippines is the 30th Member to have its ratification registered and join the group of the “first 30” ILO countries to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring decent work for seafarer and a level playing field for quality shipowners.

  3. ILO, UNICEF and WHO hail significant increase in breastfeeding rates

    01 August 2012

    On the commemoration of Global Breastfeeding Week, the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) congratulated the Government of the Philippines for the significant increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates in the country. However, the challenge of breastfeeding when a mother returns to work still remains. Many working women face difficulties with the risk of income loss after giving birth.

July 2012

  1. Queen of Spain reviews development projects

    17 July 2012

    Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain visited the Philippines to review Spanish-funded development projects that have helped thousands of disadvantaged youth and indigenous peoples towards better lives.

  2. Improving delivery of entrepreneurship training to disadvantaged youth

    12 July 2012

    Trainers of ILO’s entrepreneurship programme, Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), shared their experiences in training disadvantaged youth in Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur, during the Refresher Workshop for Master Trainers and Trainers of SIYB in May 2012.

June 2012

  1. ILO survey: 5.5 million working children in the Philippines

    27 June 2012

    The government has announced it is scaling up the campaign to put an end to the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

  2. Philippines scales up fight against child labour, ILO urges renewed action towards global deadline

    26 June 2012

    The Philippines launched a nationwide campaign against child labour. The "Batang Malaya", Child labor free Philippines, is the country’s response for renewed action towards the global deadline of ending the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

May 2012

  1. Out-of-school youth find hope in entrepreneurship

    22 May 2012

    Merly Ybanez dropped out from college in 2008 because her parents cannot pay anymore her school fees. Her mother, who was into small scale buy and sell of agricultural products, became a breadwinner when her father got sick. As the youngest of 6 children, she helped her parents in daily household chores.

  2. Technical vocational skills training for disadvantaged youth in Masbate

    22 May 2012

    The Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) confirmed the 2nd batch of 250 disadvantaged youth as graduates of labour market-responsive technical vocational skills training in Masbate on May 4. To date, a total of 500 disadvantaged youth completed the 13 training courses offered by TESDA its accredited 11 technical vocational institutions in the province.

  3. Philippine tripartite-plus stakeholders discuss ethical recruitment in the health sector

    18 May 2012

    On 17 May 2012, the ILO, with the leadership of Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), organized a participatory workshop whose goal was to contribute to the monitoring of the implementation of the 2010 WHO Global Code of Practice on International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The event brought together more than 50 representatives from various government agencies, workers and employers organizations, recruitment agencies and health professional organizations.

  4. Advocates walk for a child-labour free Bukidnon

    15 May 2012

    Bukidnon - Around 3,000 anti-child labour advocates, government officials and programme partners flooded the street of Malaybalay City during the Walk for a Child Labour-Free Bukidnon held on Labour Day, 1 May.

April 2012

  1. Media Advisory: ILO to publish the 2012 edition of the World of Work Report

    24 April 2012

    Manila (ILO News) - The ILO will launch its annual report “World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy” on Monday 30 April 2012. The new study examines the performance of different countries since the start of the global crisis through the prism of the quantity and quality of jobs. The new study, along with all associated material and information are embargoed until 07:01 a.m. on Monday, 30 April (Manila time).

  2. New database on national responses to global economic crisis

    20 April 2012

    Manila (ILO News) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank (WB) have created a comprehensive new database that for the first time lists and examines the policy responses taken by 77 countries since the start of the financial and economic crisis.

  3. Young leaders voice concerns on youth employment in the Philippines

    19 April 2012

    Young Filipino leaders raised concerns on youth unemployment and migration, access to information, education and training, protection and promotion of workers’ rights in a recent youth employment forum held in Manila. The forum joined by over a hundred youth, was an opportunity to review the draft National Action Plan for Youth and discus the challenges that face many young people today.

  4. Promoting youth employment through local economic development

    13 April 2012

    Local governments play a pivotal role to strengthen local economic development in the context of promoting youth employment.

  5. Entrepreneurship a career option to address youth employment challenge in Maguindanao

    13 April 2012

    Young people from Maguindanao often leave their hometown to work in Manila, urban areas, or overseas due to limited opportunities. Maguindanao, a province in South Central Mindanao was the 6th poorest province in the Philippines in 2011 based on findings of the National Statistical Coordination Board. The unemployment rate of youth belonging to 20-24 year age bracket was estimated at 65 per cent, higher than the national average. The youth in the 15-24 year age bracket accounts for 18.76 per cent of the total population which is lower than national level at 20 per cent.

  6. Local partnerships forged to create employment opportunities for the youth

    13 April 2012

    Public and private sector partners have pledged their support to young people in Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur. These young people were among those trained by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) on labour market-responsive entrepreneurship and technical vocational skills in coordination with the provincial local government.