Philippines drops in rule of law in global index
Protesters burn a picture of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, right, and the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos during a rally in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. Manila's top diplomat has accused Human Rights Watch of deceiving the international community by making it appear "that the Philippines has become the Wild, Wild West of Asia where we just kill people left and right." Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano demanded an apology Friday from the U.S.-based rights group for reporting a larger number of drug suspects killed in President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs to back up a statement that human rights in the Philippines "is at its worst." AP/Aaron Favila
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines registered the most significant drop in rule of law adherence, according to the 2017 -2018 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index released Wednesday.
Dropping 18 positions from its 2016 rankings, the Philippines ranked 88th out of 113 countries overall and 13th out of 15 for East Asia and Pacific Region.
"The Philippines saw the most significant drops in Constraints on Government Powers, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, and Criminal Justice," the report read.
The Philippines ranked the lowest in order and security, with a global rank of 107th out of 113. The country also scored low in criminal justice (102nd) and fundamental rights (99th) and civil justice (81st).
Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked 59th in constraints on government powers, 62nd in absence of corruption, 54th in open government and 55th in regulatory enforcement.
More than two-thirds of countries in East Asia and Pacific experienced a decrease in overall rule of law score.
The East Asia and Pacific region, however, ranked second next to Western Europe and America. New Zealand and Australia are among the top performers in the region, ranking 7th and 10th overall, respectively.
The Rule of Law Index was based on more than 110,000 household and 3,000 expert surveys conducted worldwide.
The report noted that 71 out of 113 countries dropped their rankings in fundamental rights, which measures the absence of discrimination, right to life and security, due process, freedom of expression and religion, right to privacy, freedom of association and labor rights.
The top three overall performers in the latest index were Denmark, Norway and Finland while the bottom three were Afghanistan, Cambodia and Venezuela.
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