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US think tank says RP economy ‘mostly unfree’


MANILA, Philippines- The Philippine economy remained “mostly unfree" owing to pervasive corruption and weak judicial system, a US-based think tank said. The 2009 Index of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation placed the Philippines 12 spots lower at 104th out of 179 countries included in the poll from its last year's ranking of 92nd. The group gave the Philippines a score of 56.8 percent from 56.9 percent in 2008. In Asia Pacific, the country ranked 20th out of 41 countries with its overall score slightly below the world average. Hong Kong retained its title as the freest economy in the world, followed by Singapore, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Denmark ,Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Of the Philippines' peers in the region, Malaysia and Thailand ranked higher, at 58th and 67th, respectively. Indonesia placed at 131st and Vietnam, 145th. The dismal score of the Philippines was blamed owing to perceived pervasive corruption. "Corruption is perceived as pervasive. The Philippines ranks 131st out of 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2007," Heritage said. It noted that a culture of corruption is long-standing in the country. "Enforcement of anti-corruption laws is inconsistent, and the public perception of judicial, executive, and legislative corruption remains high," the US think tank added. Heritage Foundation also said that country's judicial system is weak and only scored 30 percent. "Judges are nominally independent, but some have been appointed strictly for political reasons and are corrupt. Organized crime is a strong impediment to the administration of justice, and delays and uncertainty concern investors. Despite some progress, enforcement of intellectual property rights remains problematic," Heritage Foundation said. "The judicial system is weak and vulnerable to extensive political influence," it added. The Philippines is also weak in business freedom and investment freedom, Heritage Foundation added. Despite the black marks in some criteria, the Philippines scored well in terms of trade freedom, 78.6 percent; fiscal freedom, 75.4 percent; government size, 90.8 percent; monetary freedom, 77.2 percent; financial freedom, 50 percent and labor freedom, 51.4 percent. "The Philippines has pursued a series of structural reform measures to develop a more vibrant private sector, generate more job opportunities, and enhance business competitiveness. Overall progress has been mixed, and the Philippines still relies heavily on remittances from abroad. The economy scores above the world average in four of the 10 economic freedoms," Heritage Foundation said. According to its scoring system, Heritage considers a country as free if its average overall score ranges from 80 percent to 100 percent. Mostly free countries have an average overall score of 70 percent to 79.9 percent, while mostly unfree countries average 50 percent to 59.9 percent. Lastly, repressed countries score 0 percent to 49.9 percent. The 2009 Index of Economic Freedom measures 179 countries against a list of 50 independent variables divided into 10 broad factors of economic freedom such as trade policy, fiscal burden, government intervention, monetary policy, foreign investment, banking and finance, wages and prices, property rights, regulation and informal market. GMANews.TV
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