MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines ranked 65th out of 172 countries in the 2026 Atlas of Impunity, placing it among the weaker performers in Southeast Asia in terms of accountability and institutional checks on power.
The Atlas of Impunity, developed by Eurasia Group in collaboration with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, measures impunity as the exercise of power without accountability.
The Philippines received an impunity score of 44.86, with a higher score indicating a higher level of impunity. The ranking assessed 60 indicators across five dimensions: unaccountable governance, economic exploitation, environmental degradation, conflict and violence, and abuse of human rights.
Dr. Alicor Panao, an Inquirer data scientist and associate professor at the University of the Philippines, said the Philippines ranked in the middle of the global results and neither led nor occupied the bottom of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Philippines ranked ahead of Cambodia, which placed 33rd globally, and Laos, which ranked 57th. It trailed Vietnam at 77th, Thailand at 81st, Malaysia at 110th and Singapore at 139th.
Indonesia ranked 66th with an impunity score of 44.49, slightly below the Philippines’ score.
“These differences show that accountability is shaped not only by political systems but also by the ability of institutions to enforce rules consistently,” Panao said.
The Philippines recorded some of its weakest results in areas directly affecting citizens.
It ranked 41st globally in abuse of human rights, with a score of 46.71, and 43rd in conflict and violence, with a score of 42.87.
The country performed relatively better in economic exploitation and environmental degradation, ranking 90th in both categories with scores of 39.21 and 42.88, respectively.
The Philippines ranked 74th in unaccountable governance, with a score of 52.60. Panao said the result still placed the country below the study’s overall average and showed a significant gap compared with stronger-performing Southeast Asian countries.
Singapore recorded an impunity score of 26.41, while Malaysia scored 36.72 and Vietnam 42.61.
Panao said the findings showed that democratic institutions alone do not guarantee accountability.
“Perhaps the broader lesson is that democracy alone does not guarantee accountability,” he said. “What matters is whether institutions can effectively restrain power, protect citizens and ensure that abuses do not go without consequences.”
