‘OVER 2 billion people live in the 20 least-peaceful countries in the world, compared to less than 500 million in the 20 most peaceful,” so says the Institute for Economics and Peace in its report “Global Peace Index 2015.”
For the 2015 study, the Philippines dropped in ranking, from 134th in 2014 to 141st in 2015. Critics of the Aquino administration were quick to point out that for 2009, the Philippines ranked 118th in the world. Defenders of the administration were as equally rapid to note that this was due, in large measure, to the problems of local rebel movements, particularly the Muslim separatists.
Both points of view and interpretations are factually correct. However, as American author Mark Twain wrote—the idea has actually been attributable to many others—“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
There are three major areas for consideration in determining the scores and rankings. These are “Militarization,” “Society and Security,” and “Domestic and International Conflict.” Therefore, if, for example, your nation is next to a country in a civil war, which occasionally spills over the border, causing domestic-security problems and you have to increase your military budget, you will have a low score and ranking.
In those three areas, the Philippines scores, respectively, a good 1.5 out of 5 (5 being the worst score possible), a relatively poor 2.98 out of 5 and a medium 2.6 out of 5. In other words, contrary to a report in several local newspapers and news web sites, it is not the domestic rebels or the dispute with China that is the biggest peace problem for the Philippines. It is old-fashioned crime.
While apologists for the government would not like to admit it, this is also not just a perception problem. Although the “Perceptions of Criminality” score is a dismal 4 out of 5; “Violent Crime,” based on statistics, is also a poor 4 out of 5. Also included in the “Society and Security” score is what they call “Political Terror,” defined as violations of physical- and personal-integrity rights carried out by the state or its agents. Examples of political terror include extrajudicial killings, torture, disappearances and political imprisonment. Needless to say, on a similar Political Terror scale, the Philippines scores 4 out of 5.
But all this is just numbers, and we have become numb to the human cost. What does it really matter if a journalist, or two, is gunned down every few months? The government says the economy is in great shape, and the best is yet to come as we march into the “First World.”
It costs money to contain violence. The Philippines’s “National Cost of Violence” is estimated at $25,386,657,471 in 2014. That equals 4 percent of the GDP, or P12,126 for every Filipino.
The Philippines now has the worst peace score (next to North Korea) in Asia. But, according to the government, it is really great that Manila’s international gateway airport is no longer the worst in the world.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano