Philippines still on weaker half of most powerful passport list

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine passport has moved two spots higher but remains in the lower half of the latest world’s most powerful passports rankings.

The Philippines moved from the 72^nd spot to the 70^th in the latest Henley Passport Index released on May 22.

The list ranked 199 passports from one to 100 according to the freedom they allow their holders to travel visa-free to up to 227 different travel destinations—including countries, territories and micro-states.

The Philippines shared the 70^th spot with Azerbaijan, the Dominican Republic and Tunisia. A Philippine passport holder now has visa-free access to 66 countries, three more compared to the index released in January.

Japan emerged as the most powerful passport allowing visa-free entry to 189 destinations.

Germany and Singapore shared the 2^nd spot as their passport holders could visit 188 destinations without a visa. Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country to land a spot on the five most powerful passports list.

Ranking 3^rd were passports from Finland, France, Italy, South Korea, Spain and Sweden which could freely enter 187 destinations. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan and Iraq ranked as the least powerful passports at the 100^th spot as they allow visa-free access to only 30 destinations.

Southeast Asian rankings

The Philippine passport fell to the 7^th spot compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

LIST: Where you can travel visa-free with a Philippine passport

Indonesia, meanwhile, is the biggest gainer in the region as it jumped 12 spots to 67^th from 79^th in the 2017 global rankings.

Malaysia followed Singapore as the second most powerful passport in the region as it allows visa-free access to 180 countries.

Brunei, Timor Leste and Thailand landed the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th spot, respectively.

Meanwhile, Myanmar ranked the lowest, granting visa-free access to 48 countries only.

The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.

The ranking is generated from exclusive data of the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of travel information.