Shrugging off peace index, Palace cites 'political slant'

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:07 p.m.) — Malacañang casted doubt on independent international survey Global Peace Index (GPI) where the Philippines was on the penultimate spot just above North Korea in the Asia-Pacific region.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that there may be a "political slant somewhere" after the report credited the downfall of the country to the bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

The findings on the Philippines ran counter to apparent aims of the Duterte administration whose political victory last year was on the back of a peace and order platform.

READ: Philippines among ‘least peaceful’ in Global Peace Index

"We are really not that sure where the GPI analyst, who apparently, supposedly a local, is coming from," the spokesperson said at a televised press briefing on Friday.

Without further explaining how the index was built, the Palace official said there a political motive behind it.

"Maybe there is a political slant somewhere, but based on results, based on survey, the Filipino satisfaction is quite high," Abella said.

The study, however, was conducted by global think tank Institute for Economics and Peace based in Sydney is based on 23 indicators of the violence or fear of violence chosen by a panel of international experts and assisted by other research groups. Researchers behind the Global Peace index assure readers of similar robustness to the Human Development Index conducted by the United Nations to measure living conditions across the globe.

Abella, meanwhile, said previous local surveys had indicated that 75 percent of Filipinos were happy with the Duterte administration’s performance, 62 percent were satisfied with its campaign against crime, 64 percent were satisfied with its fight against terrorism and 76 percent were happy with its effort to help the poor.

Abella also cited a recent survey suggesting that eight in ten Filipinos feel safer because of the government’s war on illegal drugs.

Drug war as factor against peace

According to the GPI report, the Philippines got lower scores in the societal safety and security indicators because of President Duterte's "bloody war against drugs and crime (that) has been extended nationwide."

 "The Philippines' homicide rate, incarceration rate and number of deaths from internal conflict have all deteriorated. The extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals, drug mules and users have significantly increased security risks, even for ordinary citizens who could potentially get caught in the crossfire," the report read.

Human rights organizations report that more than 7,000 people have been killed in the anti-drug crackdown but Philippine officials dispute the number, citing less than 3,000 cases of drug-related killings in police operations.

The Philippines was ranked 18 in the region with an overall score of 2.555, while the militant hermit state North Korea recorded 2.967.

There was a slight improvement that pulled it one notch higher in the ranking, but the report said the Philippines' score for the year "deteriorated since new President Rodrigo Duterte took office in June 2016. A bloody war against drugs and crime has been extended nationwide, and is reflected in a deterioration of the country’s Societal Safety and Security indicators," the report read.

"The extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals, drug mules and users has significantly increased security risks, even for ordinary citizens who could potentially get caught in the crossfire," it added.

Among 163 nations in the study, Iceland is the most peaceful followed by New Zealand and Portugal, while the Philippines is at 138th place.

The Global Peace Index is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. The report presented the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies. — with Alexis Romero