PHILIPPINE PERFORMANCE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS

Indicator* 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Overall ranking N/A 60 51 70 88
Overall score N/A 0.50 0.53 0.51 0.47
Constraints on Government Powers 46 39 39 51 59
Absence of Corruption 63 44 47 56 62
Open Government 59 55 50 63 54
Fundamental Rights 59 67 67 83 99
Order and Security 77 56 58 77 107
Regulatory Enforcement 52 60 52 55 55
Civil Justice 84 82 75 87 81
Criminal Justice 72 73 66 84 102

* Aside from the overall ranking, all are reflected as scores. The closer to 100, the better.

Continuing its downward trend, the Philippines ranked 88th out of 113 countries in the latest report for this indicator (2017). This made the country the biggest mover for this edition, with our rule of law assessed as declining. Its lowest ranking is on Order and Security being in the 107th place mainly due to the Marawi Siege that lasted for 5 months. In terms of score, the least rating was seen for Criminal Justice, due primarily to issues on extrajudicial killings and the drug war. On the other hand, its highest ranking is on Open Government being 54th place globally, consistent with the results for the Open Budget Index.

Philippine vs. ASEAN Performance (Current vs. Past Year)

Country* 2017

Overall Ranking

2017

Percentile Rank**

2016

Percentile Rank

Change

(2017 vs. 2016)

Brunei N/A N/A N/A N/A
Cambodia 112 0.88 0.88 0.00
Indonesia 63 44.25 46.02 -1.77
Lao PDR N/A N/A N/A N/A
Malaysia 53 53.1 50.44 +2.66
Myanmar 100 11.5 13.27 -1.77
Philippines 87 23.01 38.06 -15.05
Singapore 13 88.5 92.04 -3.54
Thailand 71 37.17 43.36 -6.19
Vietnam 74 34.51 40.7 -6.19

* 113 countries were measured.

** The closer to 100, the better the score.

Except for Singapore at 13th place and Malaysia at 53rd place, the rest of the ASEAN are in the bottom 40% of the rankings. The Philippines’ performance places us in the same relative position as Cambodia and Myanmar. In general, the region experienced decline in rule of law score.

Indicator Overview

The World Justice Project (WJP) – Rule of Law Index provides original and impartial data on how the public experience the influence and authority of law within a nation or society. The Rule of Law performance of a country is determined through 44 subfactors and categorized in to eight main themes:

  • Constraints on Government Powers: measures the extent to which those who govern are bound by law, and it comprises the means, both constitutional and institutional, by which the powers of the government and its officials and agents are limited and held accountable under the law
  • Absence of Corruption: how minimal (or none at all) are the acts of bribery, improper influence by public or private interests, and misappropriation of public funds or other resources occur
  • Order and Security: measures how well the society assures the security of persons and property
  • Fundamental Rights: protecting human rights guided by international laws; measures the protection of fundamental human rights
  • Open Government Index: how transparent the government is, how it empowers its citizens and promote public involvement in governance; measures government openness based on the general public’s experiences and perceptions worldwide
  • Regulatory Enforcement: measures how much regulations are fairly and effectively executed and imposed
  • Civil Justice: measures whether ordinary people can resolve their grievances peacefully and effectively through the civil justice system
  • Criminal Justice: effectivity in investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses, protecting rights of both victim and accused, and implementing corrective systems that prevent criminal behavior

The Rule of Law Index is monitored as part of the indicators in the Results Matrix of PDP Chapter 6.

Further Information

Frequency of update: Yearly

Publication of update: 31 January 2018

Period of study: Previous year (i.e. 2017 data reflects 2016 results)

Link to the main site: https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-work/wjp-rule-law-index/

Historical data: http://data.worldjusticeproject.org/