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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
May 4, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Despite rising in the overall global rankings, the Philippines reported a deteriorating press freedom situation last year, mirroring a trend seen in numerous countries around the world, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières/RSF).
Out of 180 countries, the Philippines ranked 114th in the RSF’s annual Press Freedom Index, released in time for World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Although it slightly improved from last year’s 116th, the country’s overall score dropped from 49.57 to just 46.79 out of 100.
The RSF classifies countries based on the overall score: “good” (above 85), “satisfactory” (70 to 85), “problematic” (55 to 70), “difficult” (40 to 55) and “very serious” (below 40).
In previous years, the Philippines was classified as falling under the “difficult” situation, joining more than half of the countries in the two lowest classifications.
Based on the latest index, the Philippines’ scores dropped in four of five indicators: political (from 39.62 to 39.19), economic (from 39.58 to 34.5), legal (from 52.4 to 49.2) and security (from 61.57 to 54.03).
The only improvement it saw was in sociocultural aspect, which improved from 54.69 to 57.05.
“Despite its extremely dynamic media landscape, the Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists,” RSF said.
“In the Philippines, a democracy on paper, terrorism charges have been used as a pretext to silence independent reporters, including journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who was convicted even though the case against her contained no tangible evidence, as revealed by an RSF investigation,” it added in the report.
The Philippines’ improved ranking was mainly due to the backslide reported in many other countries.
“The average score for all countries and territories worldwide has never been so low. For the first time in the Index’s 25-year history, more than half the world’s countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ categories for press freedom,” RSF said.
The media watchdog noted that in 2002, when it started publishing the index, only a small minority of 13.7 percent were under these categories.
“In 2002, 20 percent of the global population lived in a country where the state of press freedom was categorized as ‘good.’ Twenty-five years later, less than one percent of the world’s population lives in a country that falls under this category,” it added.
For the 10th consecutive year, Norway remained on top of the index with a score of 92.72, followed by the Netherlands (88.92), Estonia (88.54), Denmark (88.47), Sweden (87.61), Finland (86.22), Ireland (85.93), Switzerland (84.83), Luxembourg (84.14) and Portugal (83.71).
At the bottom of the list were Eritrea (10.24), North Korea (12.67), China (13.85), Iran (17.45), Saudi Arabia (19.11), Afghanistan (19.51), Vietnam (21.15), Turkmenistan (23.06), Russia (23.15) and Azerbaijan (23.95).
“Although attacks on the right to information are more diverse and sophisticated, their perpetrators are now operating in plain sight. Authoritarian states, complicit or incompetent political powers, predatory economic actors and under-regulated online platforms are directly and overwhelmingly responsible for the global decline in press freedom,” said RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé.
“Current protection mechanisms are not strong enough; international law is being undermined and impunity is rife. We need firm guarantees and meaningful sanctions. The ball is in the court of democracies and their citizens. It is up to them to stand in the way of those who seek to silence the press. The spread of authoritarianism isn’t inevitable,” she added.
