MANILA, Philippines — The government is opposed to allowing a high-level mission of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate the killings of labor leaders in the Philippines, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he was against the possible ILO intervention into the reported killings of labor leaders and that it was the Philippines, not an international agency, that should conduct a probe. The latest casualty was labor union organizer Leonides Sequeña, who was gunned down last month in Tanza, Cavite by men aboard a motorcycle. Last month, labor leaders from the Philippines reported during the 108th International Labor Conference in Geneva, Switzerland that 43 trade unionists have been killed under the present administration. According to Bello, the information they have on reported killings of labor leaders were only culled from newspaper reports.

Source: Philippine Star July 18, 2019 18:33 UTC