Philippine rule of law among the weakest despite improved global ranking — report
MANILA, Philippines — Adherence to the rule of law in the Philippines has remained among the weakest in the region, according to results of a new survey that also showed an improvement in the Southeast Asian country’s global ranking in the face of a continued negative slide worldwide.
In the 2019 edition of the World Justice Project’s annual Rule of Law Index, the Philippines’ score was steady at 0.47 on a 0 to 1 scale — where 1 indicates the strongest adherence to the rule of law and any score up to 0.50 means “weaker adherence to the rule of law.”
The latest reading placed the Philippines at the 90th spot out of 126 countries covered by the report, up three notches from the 2017-2018 list.
The Philippines’ score also puts it at 13th spot out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region, and at 14th place out of 30 among lower middle income countries. Significant trends included an improvement in “Order and Security,” WJP said.
WJP’s report is an evaluation of rule of law adherence worldwide based on more than 120,000 household and 3,800 expert surveys worldwide. The index measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors, namely: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.
WJP said an effective rule of law “reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small.”
“It is the foundation for communities of justice, opportunity, and peace—underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights,” it added.
Commenting on the latest report, Malacañang said it was satisfied with the Philippines’ performance in the 2019 rule of law index.
“We will not rest and continue exerting efforts on this aspect,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. “The Executive Branch, however, cannot do it alone.”
President Rodrigo Duterte, a former city mayor, beat his more moneyed rivals and won the race to Malacañang in 2016 promising to eradicate crime and solve his country’s drug menace in three to six months.
But human rights watchdogs at home and abroad say most of the fatalities in the government’s anti-narcotic drive are extrajudicial killings committed by cops, accusing Duterte of inciting violence and “steamrolling the rule of law.”
In 2019, the top three overall performers in the WJP Rule of Law Index were Denmark (1), Norway (2) and Finland (3). At the bottom three were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (124), Cambodia (125) and Venezuela (126).
Meanwhile, East Asia and Pacific’s top performer in the Index is New Zealand—which ranked 8th globally—followed by Australia and Singapore.
“Globally, the new WJP Rule of Law Index scores show that more countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for a second year in a row, continuing a negative slide toward weaker rule of law around the world,” WJP said.
“In a sign suggesting rising authoritarianism, the factor score for ‘Constraints on Government Powers’ declined in more countries than any other factor worldwide over the last year (61 countries declined, 23 stayed the same, 29 improved),” it added.
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