Philippines hopes to keep trade perks

The country also denied the rights of workers to organize because of the extra-judicial killings in free-trade zones, it added.

In a March 28 hearing in the USTR, Labor officials touted the progress the government has made in addressing these issues.

House Bill 1564 and Senate Bill 632, pending in the committee levels of Congress, seek to limit the assumption of jurisdiction by the Labor department in disputes to industries which provide essential services like hospitals and public utilities such as power and water.

"[The USTR] is expecting us to finish the issue of assumption of jurisdiction for essential services. It even noted that we are trying to explore a consensus in these kinds of labor disputes through department orders while a bill has not yet been passed, so there is protection for the workers," Ms. Baldoz said.

Meanwhile, the government has also set up new guidelines for the police and the army on how to handle labor disputes. It has also expanded the definition of extra-judicial killings to include not just political activists but any person affiliated with an organization.

The GSP covers 4,975 tariff lines, worth $18.5 billion, across 129 economies. For the Philippines, these include banana, sugar, edible oils, wood products, cotton fabrics, rattan products, footwear materials, ceramics and baskets, estimated to be worth $1.1 billion.

The current GSP program took effect on Nov. 5, 2011 and will end this July 31.