Adherence to rule of law in Philippines drops

MANILA, Philippines — Adherence to rule of law in the Philippines remains one of the weakest in the region, with the country’s score declining in the latest Rule of Law Index of the World Justice Project (WJP).

From 97th among 140 countries last year, the Philippines dropped to 100th spot among 142 that were included in this year’s index, which was released on Wednesday.

Among 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific that were included in the index, the Philippines remained at 13th place, slightly ahead of Myanmar and Cambodia.

The index measures adherence to rule of law based on 44 indicators grouped into eight – constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.

Countries get a score of zero to one, with one indicating strongest adherence to rule of law.

The Philippines scored 0.46 in the latest index, down from last year’s 0.47 and similar to the score it obtained in 2021.

Scores across most indicators have gone down, with the lowest in criminal justice at 0.31 from 0.32 last year.

It was followed by fundamental rights at 0.40, the same as last year; absence of corruption, 0.43 from 0.44; civil justice, 0.47 from 0.45; open government, 0.47 from 0.50; constraints on government powers, 0.47 from 0.48; regulatory enforcement, 0.47 from 0.48, and order and security, 0.67 from 0.66.

In 2015, the Philippines scored 0.53 in the rule of law index and placed 51st out of 103 countries.

It continuously dropped during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, ranking 70th out of 113 with a score of 0.51 in 2016; 88th of 113 with 0.47 in 2017 and 2018; 90th of 126 with 0.47 in 2019; 91st of 128 with 0.47 in 2020 and 102nd out of 139 countries in 2021.

The Philippines improved to 97th out of 140 countries in the first index released under the current Marcos administration.

According to WJP, more countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for the sixth consecutive year.

Eighty-two of the countries included in the list showed declines in their rule of law scores, while only 58 improved.

Human rights declined in three of four countries in the list including the Philippines.

“The world remains gripped by a rule of law recession characterized by executive overreach, curtailing of human rights and justice systems that are failing to meet people’s needs,” WJP co-founder and president William Neukom said.

“People around the world are paying the price,” he added.

Denmark still topped the list with a score of 0.90 followed by Norway with 0.89, Finland with 0.87 and Sweden, 0.85.

Germany, Luxembourg, New Zealand and the Neitherlands all scored 0.83 followed by Estonia with 0.82 and Ireland 0.81.

At the bottom of the list were Venezuela with 0.26 followed by Cambodia, 0.31; Afghanistan, 0.32; Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, both 0.34; Egypt, Cameroon and Myanmar and Nicaragua scored 0.35 each and Mauritania, 0.36.

Following New Zealand, among those in the East Asia and the Pacific region were Australia with a score of 0.80 followed by Japan, 0.79; Singapore, 0.78; South Korea, 0.74; Hong Kong, 0.73; Malaysia, 0.57, and Mongolia, 0.53.

In the bottom half were Indonesia with 0.53 followed by Thailand, 0.49; Vietnam, 0.49; China, 0.47, the Philippines, 0.46; Myanmar, 0.35, and Cambodia with 0.31.