Preface By
Mr. Juan Somavia
Director-General
International Labour Office

When I was elected Director-General of the ILO, I set as one of my objectives, to focus the energies of the organisation on promoting decent work. Today, it is widely recognised that the ILO's primary goal is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

The Philippines, with the active support and encouragement of government and workers' and employers' organisations, was one of the first countries to participate in a pilot programme on decent work.

Considerable work and tripartite consultation have been undertaken to prepare the Philippine's Action Programme for Decent Work. This three year Action Programme pursues the overall objective of supporting national efforts to reduce poverty through the adoption and consistent implementation of appropriate and integrated policies and programs that promote full, decent and productive employment of Filipino workers.

The programme has been designed to support government and social partners initiatives to address decent work deficits in terms of rights at work, employment, social protection and social dialogue. In line with the Medium Term National Development Plan 2001-04, it also responds to three sets of issues to which the government is giving high priority. There is the foremost concern for reducing the severity and the incidence of poverty affecting over a third of Filipinos, primarily in rural areas. There is the similar concern for bettering the lives of those living, directly or indirectly, from small enterprises or personal business initiatives in urban areas. Finally, it addresses the concern for defending and widening the prospects of those industries competing in export markets, and increasingly challenged by lower cost competitors.

The launching of the Action Programme is like the first step in a long journey. The programme will be refined and updated through regular monitoring and consultation with constituents. For this purpose, I am pleased to note that constituents have agreed to establish a high-level Decent Work Tripartite Advisory Committee.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to all those who have worked on preparing the Philippines’ Action Programme for Decent Work and I look forward to receiving reports of its implementation.