F

Philippines’ Performance in
the Worldwide Governance
Indicators, 2020
The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project
acts
of the World Bank (WB) reports on the six broad in
dimensions of governance for over 215 countries and
territories over the period 1996 to 2019. The dimensions
include: 1) Voice and Accountability; 2) Political Stability
and Absence of Violence; 3) Government Effectiveness;
igures
4) Regulatory Quality; 5) Rule of Law; and 6) Control
Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department
of Corruption. The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) House of Representatives
envisions that by next year (2022), the country will have February 2021 (No. 14)
improved rankings in the global governance indices.

F
Figure 1. Philippines' Scores in WGI
(1996-2019-By Political Regime)

S 0.50
Voice and Acctblty.
Control of Corruption
Regulatory Quality
Rule of Law
acts Govt. Effectiveness
Political Stability

c
o
0.00
-0.50 in
igures
r -1.00
e -1.50
-2.00
Dimensions 1996 2000 2005 2010 2015 2019
Voice and Accountability 0.26 0.23 -0.01 -0.04 0.15 0.03
Regulatory Quality 0.02 0.12 Congressional
-0.18 Policy
-0.23 and Budget Research
-0.04 Department
0.01
Government Effectiveness -0.31 -0.18 House
-0.04 of Representatives
0.00 0.11 0.05
Control of Corruption -0.36 -0.51 February
-0.62 2021 (No.__)
-0.76 -0.45 -0.57
Rule of Law 0.07 -0.38 -0.35 -0.55 -0.34 -0.48
Political Stability -0.48 -1.39 -1.18 -1.65 -0.86 -0.88
Ramos Estrada Arroyo Arroyo/B. Aquino B. Aquino Duterte

Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank

Philippines' WGI Scores. WGI provides estimated WGI Rankings. The WGI rankings are based on the
scores of a country’s governance performance country’s individual scores for every WGI dimension.
ranging from -2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong) governance The rankings range from 0 percentile (lowest rank) to
performance. 100 percentile (highest rank).

Figure 1 presents the scores attained by the Philippines Table 1. Voice and Accountability
in the six dimensions of WGI under the different political (2015-2019, in Percentile Rank)
Country 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
regimes. The country’s scores in the six dimensions from
Philippines 51.23 51.23 48.77 48.28 47.29
1996 to 2019 fluctuated. Government Effectiveness Brunei 26.11 23.15 22.66 24.63 22.17
showed continuous improvement from -0.31 for 1996 Cambodia 18.23 18.23 15.76 13.79 15.27
to 0.11 for 2015 before sliding to 0.05 in 2019. Indonesia 53.69 51.72 50.74 52.22 52.71
LAO PDR 4.43 4.43 4.43 4.43 3.94
The Philippines performed strongly in the dimension Malaysia 33.99 33.99 34.48 41.38 43.35
Voice and Accountability albeit declining, at 0.26 for 1996 Myanmar 14.29 24.14 23.67 23.65 23.65
under the Ramos administration; 0.23 for 2000 (Estrada Singapore 41.38 40.89 41.38 41.87 39.41
Thailand 22.17 21.67 21.18 20.20 24.14
administration); 0.15 for 2015 (B. Aquino); and 0.03 for
Vietnam 10.34 10.34 10.84 11.00 9.85
2019 (Duterte). Meanwhile, the dimensions Control of Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank
Corruption and Political Stability got all negative/weak Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank).
C
governance scores from 1996 to 2019. The dimension H
Political Stability registered the weakest scores from Voice and Accountability measures the extent to F
-0.48 for 1996 (Ramos administration) to -1.65 for 2010 which citizens are able to participate in selecting their
(Arroyo and Benigno Aquino administrations). government, their degree of freedom of expression,
association, and free media. Table 1 shows that Table 4. Control of Corruption
among the ASEAN member-states, Indonesia and the (2015-2019, in Percentile Rank)
COUNTRY 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Philippines continuously ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively,
Philippines 39.90 36.06 39.42 34.13 31.25
from 2015-2019.
Brunei 69.23 70.19 75.00 79.81 78.37
Table 2. Regulatory Quality Cambodia 12.02 9.13 8.65 8.65 9.62
(2015-2019, in Percentile Rank) Indonesia 39.42 41.83 48.08 46.15 37.98
COUNTRY 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 LAO PDR 17.79 14.42 15.87 15.38 13.46
Philippines 52.40 53.85 55.77 53.85 55.29 Malaysia 63.46 60.10 58.17 63.94 62.50
Brunei 76.92 71.15 75.48 74.04 73.08 Myanmar 20.67 32.21 32.21 30.29 28.85
Cambodia 31.73 34.13 32.21 33.65 30.29 Singapore 96.63 97.11 97.60 99.04 99.52
Indonesia 46.63 50.00 51.92 49.04 51.44 Thailand 37.02 42.31 42.79 40.87 39.42
LAO PDR 23.56 24.52 25.48 21.63 23.56 Vietnam 41.83 37.50 31.25 37.98 34.13
Malaysia 74.04 75.48 74.52 74.52 73.56 Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank
Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank).
Myanmar 8.65 18.75 19.23 23.08 21.63
Singapore 100.00 100.00 99.52 99.52 100.00 Rule of Law reflects perceptions of the extent to which
Thailand 63.48 60.10 59.62 59.13 60.58 agents have confidence in, and abide by the rules of
Vietnam 35.58 35.10 36.54 37.50 41.83 society, the quality of contract enforcement, property
Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank
Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank).
rights, the police, the courts, and incidence of crime and
violence. The Philippines’ percentile rankings for this
Regulatory Quality reflects the public’s perception on dimension are from 34.13 (2018-2019) to 43.27 (2015).
the ability of government to formulate and implement Among ASEAN member-states, the country ranked 7th
policies and regulations that promote and allow private in 2019, next to Indonesia.
sector development. Table 2 shows that Singapore Table 5. Rule of Law
consistently topped this dimension from 2015 to 2019. (2015-2019, in Percentile Rank)
COUNTRY 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Among ASEAN countries, the Philippines ranked 5th in
Philippines 43.27 39.42 37.02 34.13 34.13
2019, next to Thailand.
Brunei 66.83 71.63 74.52 74.52 74.04
Cambodia 14.9 12.98 13.46 11.06 17.79
Table 3. Government Effectiveness Indonesia 39.42 40.38 40.87 42.79 42.31
(2015-2019, in Percentile Rank) LAO PDR 23.56 20.67 18.27 18.75 17.31
COUNTRY 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Malaysia 68.75 69.23 64.42 74.04 73.08
Philippines 57.21 51.92 51.92 55.29 54.81 Myanmar 7.69 17.79 16.83 15.87 12.98
Brunei 82.21 82.21 84.13 87.02 87.02 Singapore 94.23 96.15 96.63 97.12 96.63
Cambodia 25.00 24.04 25.48 32.21 31.73 Thailand 50.96 54.33 54.81 54.81 57.69
Indonesia 45.19 52.40 54.81 59.13 50.10 Vietnam 43.75 56.73 56.25 54.33 53.37
LAO PDR 35.10 38.94 37.50 24.52 20.67 Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank
Malaysia 76.92 75.96 75.48 81.25 79.33 Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank).
C
Myanmar 10.10 16.35 13.46 12.50 11.54 Political Stability measures the likelihood that the H
Singapore 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 F
government will be destabilized or overthrown by
Thailand 65.87 66.35 66.83 66.83 65.87
Vietnam 55.29 53.85 53.37 53.37 53.85
unconstitutional or violent means, including politically
Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank motivated violence and terrorism. Among the six
Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank). dimensions, the Philippines fared poorest in political
stability with its percentile ranking ranging from 9.52
Government Effectiveness records the country’s (2016) to 19.52 (2015). For 2019, the country ranked 9th
quality of public service, civil service, degree of political in the ASEAN, only better than Myanmar.
independence, policy formulation, implementation, and Table 6. Political Stability
commitment. In Table 3, Singapore attained 100.00 from (2015-2019, in Percentile Rank)
2015 to 2019. The Philippines’ percentile rankings for COUNTRY 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Philippines 19.52 9.52 11.43 12.86 16.67
the same period are above 50.00, and 5th among ASEAN
Brunei 93.81 91.43 90.00 92.38 91.90
member-states in 2019.
Cambodia 49.52 53.81 50.48 52.38 46.19
Indonesia 24.76 32.38 29.52 27.60 29.10
Control of Corruption records the extent to which
LAO PDR 61.90 64.29 61.43 60.48 64.76
public power is exercised for private gain, including both Malaysia 56.67 49.52 51.43 55.24 50.95
petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as “capture” Myanmar 10.48 18.10 13.33 11.43 11.43
of the state by elites and private interests. In Table 4, Singapore 96.19 99.05 99.05 98.57 97.62
the Philippines registered percentile rankings from 31.25 Thailand 14.76 14.29 18.57 19.05 26.67
(2019) to 39.90 (2015). Among ASEAN countries, the Vietnam 50.00 54.76 56.67 52.86 53.81
Source of basic data: WGI dataset, September 2020, World Bank
Philippines ranked 7th in 2019, next to Vietnam. Legend: 0 pctl. (lowest rank) to 100 pctl. (highest rank).