Philippine democracy

Philippines sees slight improvement in political rights in 2022 – Freedom House

Ryan Macasero

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Philippines sees slight improvement in political rights in 2022 – Freedom House

CAPITAL. Metro Manila's skyline.

Alecs Ongcal

Freedom House says other countries seeing an improvement in political rights and civil liberties include Lesotho, Malaysia, Zambia, and Kenya, among others

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines marked a slight improvement in political rights and civil liberties according to Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World 2023” report

The Philippines showed an improvement on conditions related to political rights and civil liberties by three points, and was highlighted as being among the countries who had the largest one-year gains or declines in 2022.

This was the year Rodrigo Duterte left office with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who won the presidential election by a landslide, taking over by June 2022. 

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Duterte’s term as president was riddled with controversy, from his bloody drug war, to his violent and misogynistic rhetoric, and his hostile treatment of critics and the free press. 

Freedom House gave the Philippines an overall global freedom score of 55/100 in its 2022 report (which was based on 2021 data), rating the country “partly free,” with a 25 out of 40 score for political rights and 30 out of 60 for civil liberties. 

Its full 2023 narrative report for the Philippines is not yet available online.

Other countries who saw an improvement, moving up by three points, include Lesotho, Malaysia, and Zambia. 

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Kenya and Kosovo meanwhile improved by four points, Slovenia by five points, and Colombia seeing the biggest improvement by six points.

Aside from regime changes, Freedom House attributed the improvement in some countries to the rollback of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Eight countries registered modest improvements in civil liberties due to the rollback of COVID-19 restrictions that had disproportionately infringed on the freedoms of assembly and movement. But the most significant positive developments were driven by competitive elections in Latin America and Africa, with politicians and ordinary people in the affected countries reaffirming their commitment to the democratic process,” Freedom House said in its executive summary of the report.

“The year also brought fresh evidence of the limits of authoritarian power, as key regimes faltered in their attempts to exert influence at international organizations and their internal governance flaws led to dramatic policy setbacks,” the democracy think tank added.

Meanwhile Burkina Faso saw the biggest drop in conditions for political rights and civil liberties sliding 23 points, followed by Ukraine by 11 points and Tunisia by 8 points.

The 2023 edition of Freedom in the World is the think tank’s 50th in its annual series of reports on democratic freedoms.

“More than anything else, five decades of Freedom in the World reports demonstrate that the demand for freedom is universal,” Freedom House said.

The full report is accessible on Freedom House’s website here– Rappler.com

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka

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Ryan Macasero

Ryan covers social welfare for Rappler. He started at Rappler as social media producer in 2013, and later took on various roles for the company: editor for the #BalikBayan section, correspondent in Cebu, and general assignments reporter in the Visayas region. He graduated from California State University, East Bay, with a degree in international studies and a minor in political science. Outside of work, Ryan performs spoken word poetry and loves attending local music gigs. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmacasero or drop him leads for stories at ryan.macasero@rappler.com