The Philippines and the EU are close to finalizing a free trade agreement, but labor groups warn that violence against workers is being ignored in negotiations.
Since 2016, Workers’ Rights Watch has documented 105 trade union killings in the Philippines, none of which have been prosecuted. In 2025 alone, violations have continued at roughly one documented case per week, including killings, illegal arrests, so-called “red-tagging,” illegal surveillance, and threats against workers and their families.
According to a Supreme Court ruling (Deduro v. Vinoya, G.R. No. 254753, 2023), “red-tagging” means publicly labeling, accusing, or associating individuals, groups, or organizations with communists, terrorists, or subversives without valid evidence, leading to threats, surveillance, or harm.
The figures of the killings are drawn from the 2025 State of Freedom of Association in the Philippines Report, produced by Workers’ Rights Watch (WRW) and presented by the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and the Danish Trade Union Development Agency (DTDA) on March 26, 2026, in Iloilo City.
One of the victims was 55-year-old Warlita Jimenez, a member of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW). Armed men entered her home in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on December 23, 2025, and shot her four times. Her death is believed to be connected to her work as a labor activist.
Warlita was the widow of Joseph Jimenez, a farmer-leader killed in 2022 by military forces. State forces had repeatedly harassed her in the years before her death, labeling her a New People’s Army (NPA) member (i.e. “red-tagging”) – an allegation her family firmly rejected.
To date, no one has been held accountable for her murder.
“We are calling for a living wage, but the government’s response is ‘red-tagging’ and linking our efforts to terrorism,” said Mario Tapi-on, NFSW spokesperson. “We only want respect for our rights and protection as we fight for justice.”
President Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 97 in 2025, formally recognizing freedom of association as a fundamental right of workers rather than a privilege granted by the state. Labour groups initially welcomed the move.
But FFW national president Jose Sonny Matula says the order falls short. “An executive order cannot do the walking if the government will not move its feet,” he said.
The WRW report states that the Inter-Agency Committee on Freedom of Association has not achieved any meaningful results, and authorities have not prosecuted any major cases so far.
The report also found that continued government funding for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has increased threats against trade unionists and human rights defenders.
While these difficulties continue, the Philippines and the EU are pressing ahead with negotiations on a sweeping free trade agreement, striving to conclude talks by mid-2026.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said both sides hope to conclude negotiations “probably the start of the second half of this year,” following the fifth round of talks in Brussels in early March 2026. If finalized, the deal would open access to a market of nearly 450 million high-income consumers, said Lazaro.
As a beneficiary of the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), the Philippines enjoys zero or reduced tariffs on thousands of goods exported to Europe. This access depends on the effective implementation of 27 international conventions, among others, on human and labor rights.
The labor violations documented by WRW are more than a human rights concern, as elaborated by FFW and DTDA, they threaten the Philippines’ ability to maintain preferential access to the EU market, which could jeopardize billions of dollars in exports and have broad economic implications.
The European Parliament has previously called for clear, time-bound benchmarks for Philippine compliance and raised the possibility of temporarily withdrawing GSP+ preferences if no substantial progress was made. That withdrawal has not materialized.
Now that a full FTA is on the table, labor groups worry that broadening trade ambitions could lead the EU to deprioritize the enforcement of labor and human rights conditions, possibly undermining the foundations of existing trade benefits for the Philippines.
Labor groups warn that human rights should not be ignored in trade talks, underscoring the risk that unresolved abuses may persist if not addressed alongside economic negotiations.
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