Phl improves rank in global property rights index

The country’s standing at the 2019 International Property Rights Index improved to 67th of 129 economies from 70th last year on the back of higher rankings in physical property rights (PPR) and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.

The 2019 IPRI, released by the Property Rights Alliance (PRA) with the Foundation for Economic Freedom and Minimal Government Thinkers in the Philippines, measures the strength of countries’ PPR, IPR as well as the legal and political environments (LPE) enforcing the rights.

This year’s report noted that the Philippines’ ranking in PPR improved to 60th out of 129 economies from 63rd out of 125 economies last year. On the other hand, the country’s IPR ranking jumped to 58th out of 129 economies from 62nd in 2018’s index.

The country’s LPE ranking, meanwhile, declined to 102nd out of 129 economies from its spot as 95th out of 125 economies last year, although its score barely changed at 3.7 from 3.8 last year. PRA said this could mean that other countries improved in LPE significantly compared with the Philippines.

According to the report, PR protection in the Philippines based on the index’s metrics has increased 20 percent since the index began in 2007, albeit slower than neighbor Indonesia’s 30 percent and China’s 36 percent.

PRA said that secure IP rights in economies help boost entrepreneurship, reduce corruption, increase civic participation and raise long-term investment in research and development.

PRA executive director Lorenzo Montanari said property rights “serve as human rights” considering that its absence restrains people “in how they act, how they speak and how they participate in the economy.”

Finland remains the overall top economy for PR protection under the IPRI, followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway and Singapore. Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia ranked higher than the Philippines at 32nd, 64th and 65th, respectively, all registering improvements in ranking.

While there remains a gap between the IPR of countries globally, Montanari said closing the gap is “key to transitioning from an extractive economy to one that competes in products and services only limited by the human imagination (as) too often, valuable ideas and art are stolen while governments turn a blind eye, or indeed participate.”

The IPRI, which ranks the PR protection of 129 countries, covers 98 percent of the world gross domestic product and 94 percent of the world population.