There has been a slight improvement, but the Philippines still has a long way to go in strengthening the rule of law. In the 2024 Rule of Law Index under the World Justice Project or WJP, the Philippines inched up by a notch to 99th place out of 142 countries.
The one-notch improvement from last year’s 100th place among 142 countries meant the Philippines retained its 13th spot out of 15 states in East Asia and the Pacific region. Its overall score of 0.46 is unchanged, and still below the regional average of 0.59 in a range of 0 to 1, with 1 being the best.
Rule of law is assessed by the WPJ based on the absence of corruption, order and security, open government and criminal justice – where the Philippines’ scores were unchanged – as well as fundamental rights, civil justice and constraints on government powers, where it recorded slight improvements. Regulatory enforcement in the country, meanwhile, worsened slightly to 0.47 from the previous score of 0.48.
The country’s ranking has consistently gone downhill since the index was first published in 2015, when the Philippines placed 51st out of 102 countries with an overall score of 0.53. In 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte launched his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, the country plunged to 73rd place out of 113 countries, with the score slipping to 0.51. It fell further to 88th place in the 2017-2018 report, 89th in 2019, 91st in 2020 and 102nd in 2021.
The slight improvements in the latest index can be attributed to the new approaches of the Marcos administration to the drug problem and human rights in general. But there are many other factors contributing to the rule of law. As the WJP pointed out, “Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small. It underpins development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights, and it is the foundation for communities of justice, health, opportunity, and peace.”
The weakness of the rule of law in this country is among the problems consistently raised not only by rights watchdogs but also by investors. It’s no coincidence that the world’s advanced economies rank high in the index, with Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Germany topping the list, while Myanmar, Haiti, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Venezuela landed at the bottom 138th to 142nd places.
Even a slight improvement in its score should spur the Marcos administration to sustain efforts to correct deep-seated structural flaws that undermine the rule of law. The latest index should serve as an encouragement of such efforts.