FILE PHOTO: A child walks past a graffiti on a wall with the words “Patayan St.” (“Killing St.”), placed by residents, outside the funeral wake of 23-year-old Jaybee Castor on July 18, 2019 in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. According to relatives, Castor was abducted and later killed by unidentified assailants. Sachets containing crystal meth and a sign accusing him of being a drug addict was found on his body. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

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The Philippines ranked dead last once again on an international publication’s list of the safest countries in the world.

The Global Finance’s World Safest Countries 2021, published on Tuesday (July 6), ranked 134 countries, taking into account factors such as war and peace, personal security, and natural disaster risk including the “unique risk factors stemming from COVID-19.”

In the Global Finance Safety Index, the higher a country’s score is, the lower its rank. Garnering a score of 14.8899, the Philippines landed at the bottom.

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Global Finance described the Philippines as having “serious civil conflict that have high risks from natural disaster.” The publication noted that the country reported a relatively low death toll due to the pandemic but “performed poorly in terms of safety overall.” “Countries with serious civil conflict that have high risks from a natural disaster such as the Philippines, Nigeria, Yemen, and El Salvador all reported relatively low death tolls from COVID-19, yet performed poorly in terms of safety overall,” Global Finance explained.

Alongside the Philippines, North Macedonia, Yemen, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, Guatemala, and Colombia are among the ten most unsafe countries.

Meanwhile, Iceland ranked the highest in the Global Finance Safety Index, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand.

Other Southeast Asian countries fared much better than the Philippines. Singapore ranked 4th; Malaysia, 27th; Vietnam, 49th; Indonesia, 60th and Thailand, 70th.

This is not the first time Manila ranked last in the safety index. In their 2019 list, which evaluated 128 nations, Global Finance also ranked the Philippines last.

Ana Catalina Paje is a development journalist passionate about grassroots communication geared towards genuine social change. She also writes about showbiz, lifestyle, and all things Pinoy pride. The views expressed are her own.

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