PH RANKS 4TH IN ASEAN ON ORGANIZED CRIME

THE Philippines ranked fourth among Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries where organized crime groups (OCGs) dominate, this according to a report by the ‘Global Organized Crime Index’ (GOCI), funded by the country’s closest ‘allies,’ the United States and the European Union, with the support from the International Police Organization (INTERPOL).

In its latest report covering 2023, the Philippines, however, ‘improved’ on its ranking, registering a score of 6.63 points in the ‘Criminality Index,’ (CI) compared to 6.84 points in 2021, when it was the second OCG-dominated society in ASEAN after Myanmar.

Myanmar remains as the most criminal-run country in ASEAN after registering 7.59 points in 2021 that furthered worsened to 8.15 points in 2023.

The score card ranks the 193 countries studied from 1 to 10. The higher the number the worse is the ranking.

For ASEAN, the members have been ranked accordingly in the CI (bracket shows ranking in 2021):

1. Myanmar, 8.15 points (same position; 7.59 points)
2. Cambodia, 6.85 points (ranked 6; 5.83 points);
3. Indonesia, 6.85 points (same position; 6.38 points)
4. Philippines, 6.63 points (ranked second; 6.84 points)
5. Vietnam, 6.55 points (ranked fourth; 6.28 points)
6. Malaysia, 6.23 points (ranked fifth; 5.23 points)
7. Thailand, 6.18 points (same position; 5.76 points)
8. Laos, 6.12 points (same position; 5.51 points)
9. Timor Leste, 4.08 points (same position; 3.96 points)
10. Singapore, 3.47 points (same position; 3.13 points)
11. Brunei, 2.85 points (same position; 2.76 points)

The study also covered the ‘resiliency’ (‘Resiliency Index,’ RI) of each country or their ability to “withstand and disrupt organized criminal activities as a whole, rather than individual markets, through political, economic, legal and social measures.”

The definition refers to the measures taken by both the state and non-state actors to combat criminality that include the role of civic and non-government, anti-crime organizations.

In the RI ranking of ASEAN countries, Myanmar appears to be losing control in the rise of Mafia-like organizations, sliding down from 3.42 points in 2021 to 1.63 points in 2023.

Cambodia saw its ranking worsened from 6^th place in 2021 to second place in 2023 after its resiliency indicator also slipped from 3.92 points to 3.63 points. Indonesia managed to retain its ranking despite also slipping in the Resiliency Index from 4.33 points to 4.25 points.

The Philippines improved its ranking from second place in 2021 to fourth place in 2023 with the slight improvement of its resiliency effort from 4.13 points to 4.21 points.

In 2023, the Philippines is also ranked 10^th among the 46^th surveyed countries in Asia (6^th in 2021) and 25^th among the 193 countries (13^th in 2021) covered by the survey as part of the study.

On the other hand, Vietnam dropped one notch from the ranking despite improvement in its resiliency from 4.67 points to 4.79 points.

Malaysia, which ranked second in the resiliency score card in 2021 at 5.83 points, further improved its record at 5.92 points in 2023, along with Laos at 3.42 points and 3.46 points, respectively.

Thailand, meanwhile, also improved on its ranking from 4.67 points in 2021 to 4.97 points in 2023.

The United States, which financed the study thru the Department of State, maintained its number one position in OCG-dominated country in North America after Canada, worsening its record of 5.50 points in 2021 to 5.67 points in 2023, despite improvement in its resiliency index from 6.58 points in 2021 to 7.13 points in 2023.

Despite this, the United States ranked ‘better’ compared to its major adversaries, China and Russia, landing at the 67^th position among 193 countries (66^th place in 2021) and 16^th place (15^th place in 2021), among the 35 countries in the Americas.

The result showed China at 33^rd place among the countries studied in 2023; in first place among 5 countries in Eastern Asia and 14^th place among the 46 countries located in Asia.

Russia, for its part, was in 19^th place among the 193 countries surveyed and on top of the ranking among the 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and among the 44 countries in Europe.

In 2021, Russia was ranked 32^nd in all countries surveyed but retained its frontline ranking in Eastern Western Europe.

Overall, the report noted the continued rise in organized crime operations that spared no country at 5.03 points in the CI in 2023, compared to 4.87 points in 2021. Global effort to combat organized also registered a minuscule improvement in the RI from 4.82 points in 2021 to 4.87 points or an incremental increase of only 0.05 points.

The CI takes into consideration the availability of ‘criminal markets’ and ‘criminal actors’ and defined organized crime as:

“…illegal activities, conducted by groups or networks acting in concert, by engaging in violence, corruption or related activities in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or material benefit. Such activities may be carried out both within a country and transnationally.”

The report also considered the identified five “types” of criminal actors and their structures and influence that are present and operating in any environment– Mafia-style groups, criminal networks, state-embedded actors, foreign actors and private sector actors.