The Philippines has made strides in terms of press freedom, moving up in rank to 114th from the previous year’s 116th in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index that has shown the level of freedom enjoyed by the media around the world to be at its lowest since 2001.
Despite the improved ranking, international nonprofit organization, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, which publishes the index, noted that the country remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.
According to RSF, the Philippines still sits at the bottom half of the index that ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom enjoyed by journalists and media outlets.
Its average score this year is 46.97, based on five contextual indicators used for evaluation: political (39.19), economic (34.50), legislative (49.20), social (57.05), and security (54.03) was even lower than last year’s 49.57, which is a reflection of the global trend for press freedoms.
At 46.97 out of 100, the state of press freedom in the Philippines was categorized as “difficult,” which was at the lower end of the five-point ranking scale ranging from “good,” “satisfactory,” “problematic,” to “difficult,” and “very serious.”
The rise in the country’s standing despite seemingly worsening conditions may be reflected by the RSF’s findings that global press freedom has reached its lowest level since 2001, when the index was first introduced.
For the first time in the history of the World Press Freedom Index, over half of the 180 countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom.
At the same time, the share of the world population living in a country where the press freedom situation is considered “good” has plunged from 20 percent to less than 1 percent, with only 7 countries falling in that category.
“In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories surveyed in the index has never been so low. Since 2001, the expansion of increasingly restrictive legal arsenals – particularly those linked to national security policies – has been steadily eroding the right to information, even in democratic countries,” the RSF said.
For the Philippines, the RSF pointed out how terrorism charges known as “Red-tagging” continue to be the preferred means used by authorities to silence the press. It also noted how independent media outlets are being targeted by authorities with fabricated charges linking them to “terrorist” activities.
The group also highlighted the worsening media landscape in the country, noting how print media continues to lose momentum, particularly dominant regional newspapers which are now struggling to survive.
It further underscored concerns about mainstream media ownership becoming increasingly tied to political power, citing close links between media-owning families and regional or national figures.
RSF also pointed out how Philippine law still does not protect journalistic freedom in practice, as defamation charges continue to be regularly misused to prosecute journalists, as well as laws relating to ownership and taxation.
That press freedom is generally degrading throughout the globe should be no excuse for the Philippines to remain among the most dangerous countries for journalists, because if it were something our leaders and government officials were actively working on, it would’ve been remedied, or at least significantly mitigated by now.
Is protecting and ensuring press freedom even a priority in this country?*
