PH climbs property rights index

The Philippines has improved its ranking in a global index that gauges the strength of physical property rights, intellectual property rights, and the legal and political environments that enforce them.

The country’s overall ranking in the 2019 International Property Rights (IPR) index of the Property Rights Alliance rose to 67th out of 129 economies covered, from 70th out of 125 economies last year.

The improvement was attributed to the higher ranking in the protection of physical property and intellectual property rights.

In physical property rights protection, the Philippines ranked 60th out of 129 economies this year compared to 63rd out of 125 economies in 2018. The country scored 6.5, the same as its grade last year.

In intellectual property rights protection, the country ranked higher at 58th compared to 62nd in 2018. The score improved to 5.7 from 5.4 last year.

On the other hand, the Philippines’ legal and political environment deteriorated.

It ranked 102nd in this subindex from 95th. However, the score barely changed at 3.7 from 3.8 last year, which meant that other countries improved significantly.

The 2019 IPR was launched locally in partnership with the Foundation for Economic Freedom and Minimal Government Thinkers in the Philippines.

The Philippines was chosen for the first global launch due to the country’s rising importance in the regional and global economy with its big population and dynamic growth this decade.

In addition, some national issues reflect the situation in other emerging economies, such as proposals to weaken intellectual property protections in the pharmaceutical sector as well as an outdated land reform program.

A focus on strengthening property rights is seen to increase availability of new medicines and transform the Philippines into a modern and dynamic economy.

“Property rights are human rights; without them, people are restrained in how they act, how they speak, and how they participate in the economy,” said Lorenzo Montanari, executive director of Property Rights Alliance.