The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 offers a similar assessment of the Philippines’ competitiveness. It ranks the nation 85 in a survey of 139 countries. In the entire Asian region, only Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan fair worse.
WEF uses a complex methodology in its evaluation consisting of “12 pillars of economic competitiveness.” The first and most basic is Institutions, or the legal and administrative frameworks of each country studied. The authors write that, “The importance of a sound and fair institutional environment has become even more apparent during the economic crisis, given the increasingly direct role played by the state in the economy of many countries.”
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Aside from the regressive character of the Philippines’ libel statute, the complaint is controversial because Mr. Velasco is a sitting associate justice of the Supreme Court, which exercises administrative supervision over all courts and their personnel. That presents the perception that the judicial hierarchy is exercising undue influence on prosecutors and judges involved in the case.
That’s a particularly sensitive issue since judges – not juries – decide whether defendants are innocent or guilty in the Philippines. But there’s an even bigger issue at stake. And that is the perception that the Philippines’ legal system is being used to throttle media, at a time when the judiciary should be – for the sake of the 90 million Filipinos it serves and the investors who create jobs for them – striving to demonstrate unwavering integrity.
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(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of TeamAsia and a Manila-based author. His latest book is High Visibility: Transforming Your Personal and Professional Brand. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
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