WEP Holds Three Trainings in 2025

The University of the Philippines Law Center (UPLC) Workers and Employees Program (WEP) held three sets of trainings for workers in 2025: the Labor and Gender Training with the UPLC Gender Law and Policy Program on 6-7 March 2025, the DOLE-UP Paralegal Training Program on Labor Rights and Remedies in March, June, and August 2025, and the Bigkis WEP 2025 Training Series on Labor Relations for private sector workers in July and on 20 September 2025.

UPLC WEP & GLPP Hold Labor and Gender Training Ahead of International Women’s Day

As part of its commemoration of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2025, the University of the Philippines Law Center Workers and Employees Program (WEP) and the Gender Law and Policy Program (GLPP) jointly conducted a free Labor and Gender Training from 6 to 7 March 2025, held both on-site at Function Rooms A & B, Second Floor, Bocobo Hall, UP Law Complex, UP Diliman, Quezon City, and online via Zoom.

At least 110 participants, composed of officers and members of unions, federations, labor organizations, unaffiliated workers, and students, attended the two-day training. A total of 56 participants completed both days.

In line with both Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and Goal 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Labor and Gender Training sought to acquaint and empower participants of their rights, remedies, and advocacy tools related to gender equality in the workplace.

On the first day, Prof. Nathalie Africa-Verceles of the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies introduced the varying concepts of gender and society by looking at Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC), hegemonic masculinity, toxic masculinity, patriarchy and misogyny, intersectionality, feminism, and gender mainstreaming.

This was followed by a session from Atty. Lee Edson Yarcia, a senior lecturer at the UP Diliman College of Law, who proceeded to discuss gender from the perspective of the law through a brief reflection on the legal history of diverse gender identities and norms in the Philippines, an analysis of notable jurisprudence on LGBT+, and a presentation of laws, policies, and institutional mechanisms on gender in the Philippines.

GLPP Legal Associate Atty. Irene Pua then illustrated the importance of using gender-fair language in the workplace, and how both English and Filipino languages can still be improved to promote gender fairness. To end the first day, GLPP Legal Associate Atty. Aubrey Mejia detailed the prohibited acts under Republic Acts No. 7877 (Anti-Sexual Harassment Act) and 11313 (Safe Spaces Act), as well as the available remedies and corresponding penalties.

The second day started with a session by Mx. Jillian Roque, Chief of Staff and Head of Organizing and Advocacy of the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) and Co-Convenor of Women Workers United, who reviewed the Convention on Violence and Harassment [International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190] and emphasized its core obligation to adopt an inclusive, integrated, and gender-responsive approach for the prevention and elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.

Assoc. Prof. Leo D. Battad, GLPP Program Director and WEP Faculty Member, then discussed the promotion of gender-fair bargaining in the workplace by highlighting how collective bargaining can serve as a means of advancing gender equality at work through the expansion of bargaining panel membership and the adoption of benefits that promote equality and non-discrimination to all workers, regardless of SOGIESC.

The participants were then divided into groups to apply what they had learned through a series of practical workshops on labor rights and remedies and gender in the workplace. They identified the SOGIESC of individuals in case studies, proposed gender-fair alternatives to non-gender-fair terms, examined rights and remedies in case studies involving sexual and gender-based harassment, and suggested changes to provisions in collective bargaining agreements to make them more gender-fair.

The Labor and Gender Training was held in fulfillment of WEP’s mission to uphold workers and employees’ rights and welfare, and to collaborate with workers and employees, labor organizations, non-governmental organizations, government entities, academics, researchers, and law practitioners in developing an empowered, enlightened, resilient and dynamic workforce. It also supports GLPP’s mission to foster an enabling legal environment that respects, protects, and fulfills gender equality, ensuring that all members of law and society fully enjoy human rights without discrimination.

81 More Union Representatives Complete DOLE-UP Paralegal Training

After 36 union officers and members from Northern and Central Luzon completed the training in March 2025, 81 more union officers and members from Southern Luzon, Central Visayas, Mindanao, and Metro Manila finished the DOLE-UP Paralegal Training Program on Labor Rights and Remedies. The training was jointly conducted by UPLC WEP and the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on 16-22 June 2025 and 4-10 August 2025 at Sequoia Hotel, Timog Avenue corner Mother Ignacia Avenue, Quezon City.

The June 2025 round had 42 participants from Regions IV-B, V, and VIII, while the August 2025 round covered 39 participants from Regions IX, X, XII, Caraga, and Metro Manila. Including the 111 finishers from the April 2024, July 2024, and March 2025 rounds, a total of 192 union representatives have completed the paralegal training program.

Pursuant to the 23 August 2023 Memorandum of Agreement between the DOLE, UP College of Law, and UP Law Center, the training was a gender-sensitive paralegal program for workers, capacitating them with knowledge of various legal remedies available to them, as well as case build-up skills so that they can help provide relevant information and evidence to establish an airtight case against perpetrators of violence committed against their ranks.

The same lecturers from the March 2025 round returned for the June and August 2025 rounds.

Module I: Fundamental Principles and Basic Rights of Workers

Fundamental Principles: Attorney Arnold F. De Vera, WEP Program Director and Attorney Jasper Frederick C. Briones, WEP Junior Legal Associate

Rights and Obligations of Workers: Attorney Briones and Attorney de Vera

Overview of Legal Remedies: Attorney Emir-Deogene V. Mendoza, WEP Senior Legal Associate

Module II: Gender Sensitivity in the Workplace

Examining Gender and Society: Assistant Professor Maritess D. Cruz, Department of Women and Development Studies, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines Diliman

Use of Gender-Fair Language for Inclusivity: Assistant Professor Irish Joy G. Deocampo, Department of English and Comparative Literature, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman

Anti-Sexual Harassment and Safe Spaces in the Workplace: Attorney Louise Aubrey P. Mejia, Legal Associate, Gender Law and Policy Program, UP College of Law

Gender-based Collective Bargaining: Associate Professor E. (Leo) D. Battad, Program Director, Gender Law and Policy Program, UP College of Law and WEP Faculty Member

Module III: Legal System, Procedures, and Remedies

Jurisdiction and Remedies in Philippine Labor Law and Jurisprudence: Attorney Juan Carlo Tejano, Chief of Staff of Representative Jose Manuel Tadeo “Chel” I. Diokno of Akbayan Partylist

Omnibus Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Civil Liberties: Attorney Arnold F. De Vera, WEP Program Director

Jurisdiction and Remedies in Civil Law and Jurisprudence: Human Relations: Attorney Glenda T. Litong, Law Reform Specialist V, Institute of Human Rights, UPLC

Violation of Rights as Crimes: Attorney Dan P. Calica, Lecturer, UP College of Law

Arrest, Search, Seizure, and Detention: Attorney Niel Anthony S. Borja, Lecturer, UP College of Law

Special Proceedings: Writs of Habeas Corpus, Amparo, and Habeas Data: Attorney Marwil N. Llasos, Chief of Staff to the Dean, UP College of Law and WEP Faculty Member, and Attorney Emir-Deogene V. Mendoza, WEP Senior Legal Associate

Republic Act No. 11479, Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and Rules on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and Related Laws: Attorney Emir-Deogene V. Mendoza, WEP Senior Legal Associate

Access to Legal Assistance: Attorney Marwil N. Llasos, Chief of Staff to the Dean, UP College of Law and WEP Faculty Member, and Attorney Nathaniel N. Diaz, WEP Senior Legal Associate

Module IV: Evidence, Investigation and Interview, and Documentation

Introduction to Evidence: Attorney Briones

Conducting Investigation and Interview: Attorney Diaz

Documentation of Cases: Report Writing and Affidavit Making: Attorney Diaz

In between the lectures, participants had time to meet with Mediators-Arbiters of the BLR DOLE and WEP lawyers to discuss their case studies based on incidents of freedom of association violations. On the last day of each round, participants explained what rights were violated in the case study assigned to them, what remedies were available, what evidence they needed and where they could obtain them. Mediator-Arbiters from the BLR and WEP members then commented on the participants’ analysis.

JUNE 2025

AUGUST 2025

Bigkis Conducted as Second WEP Training Series on Labor Relations

WEP held, on the Saturdays of July 2025 and 20 September 2025, an online training series on labor relations in the private sector with the theme Bigkis. This followed the first WEP training series on the same topic conducted in 2023.

A total of 117 representatives from unions, federations, other labor non-government organizations, workers, and students took part.

Bigkis’ objective is to inform private sector workers of their constitutional right to organize, collectively bargain, and engage in peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law, their rights as union members, the responsibilities of union officers, the role of the union in the workplace, affiliation and disaffiliation, unfair labor practices, remedies, and addressing misconceptions on unionism. The goal is to encourage private sector workers to exercise their labor relations rights.

The topics were discussed by the following lecturers:

5 July 2025 – Why Join a Labor Organization, lectured by Director Attorney Arturo Alfonso J. Herbosa, Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

12 July 2025 – Labor Organization Formation and Operations, lectured by OIC-Division Chief Atty. Athena M. Villagonzalo, BLR DOLE

19 July 2025 – How to Be Recognized for Collective Bargaining and Filing Complaints with BLR, lectured by Mediator Arbiter Attorney Ramon A. Saura III, BLR DOLE

26 July 2025 – Unfair Labor Practices, lectured by Commissioner Hernan Nicdao, National Labor Relations Commission, DOLE

20 September 2025 – Strikes and Lockouts, lectured by Conciliator-Mediator Ericson L. Igual, Chief, Conciliation and Mediation Division, National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), DOLE

The last session, the hybrid collective bargaining lecture with a role playing exercise, was postponed to a later date. WEP will inform registered participants of the new date via email.