In line with its commitment to uphold the rights and dignity of every Filipino worker, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) joins the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in launching the Labor, Intervention, Financial, and Economic (LIFE) Assistance Program during this year’s Labor Day celebration.
The LIFE Assistance Program is a targeted economic recovery initiative that seeks to support individuals who have faced challenges related to labor rights, specifically the affected workers themselves, along with their families and next of kin—particularly those who have encountered harassment, threats, or violence in connection with union organizing and labor rights advocacy. This program aims to address their immediate economic needs and help rebuild their livelihoods.
Workers and their kin are entitled to various support packages, including livelihood assistance, scholarships, government internship programs, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) skills training, and referrals to the appropriate agencies or offices for necessary interventions and programs based on their specific needs. These will be formally awarded during the ceremonial grant awarding on 1 May 2025, as part of the Labor Day celebration.
Anchored in the shared goal of fostering a safe and enabling environment for the free exercise of labor rights, this initiative draws from the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) signed between CHR and DOLE on 20 October 2023. These agreements were part of the Philippines’ response to the observations raised during the High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and demonstrate both agencies’ resolve to address persistent labor-related challenges.
In the LIFE Assistance program, the Commission has committed to submit to DOLE a comprehensive list of labor-related cases that it has investigated across all regions across the country. This list will undergo evaluation to determine the qualified beneficiaries, which will then be announced on 01 May 2025.
This cooperation also affirms CHR’s commitment under Executive Order No. 23, s. 2023 on “Reinforcing and Protecting the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers.” The EO reiterates the duty of state agencies to ensure the protection of trade union rights and mandates inter-agency collaboration in investigating and resolving labor rights violations.
Labor rights is a priority thrust of the 6th Commission en banc for 2025, under which the LIFE Assistance Program squarely falls as a concrete initiative to uphold this thematic concern. The Commission recognizes that the enjoyment of human rights is interlinked with economic dignity and independence.
CHR, as the country’s independent national human rights institution, expresses its full support to DOLE and other partners in ensuring that workers’ rights are not only respected in principle but made real through responsive programs and sustained cooperation.
Through this initiative, CHR and DOLE affirm their joint commitment to ensure that Filipino workers and their families can live with dignity—free from fear, and empowered to claim their rights. ###