By Camille A. Aguinaldo
SAFETY in the Philippines in 2017 was on a par with Australia, South Korea, and Iran, among other nations, in terms of law and order, results from the 2018 Global Law and Order report of research firm Gallup showed.
The Philippines received a law and order index score of 82 out of a possible 100 for 2017, along with Mauritius, Bangladesh, Serbia, Australia, South Korea, Romania, Iran, and Sri Lanka. The country also received the same score in Gallup’s 2017 report.
The Global Law and Order report gauged people’s sense of personal security and their personal experience with crime and law enforcement in their respective countries. Gallup interviewed more than 148,000 adults in 142 countries in 2017 for the study.
Singapore was deemed the safest country with the highest law and order index score of 97 while Venezuela was the “least secure” country with the lowest score of 44.
Malacañang on Monday welcomed the results of the Gallup report, saying the government’s campaign against criminality made Filipino citizens felt safer to walk at night.
“We had a confirmation that our community is more peaceful and safer…. This is according to Gallup. Our campaign against criminality resulted to (in) the perception of the people that they are safe when they walk alone at night,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in Filipino at a press briefing.
The Gallup report indicated that majority of the world are confident in their local police (69%) and feel safe walking alone at night where they live (68%). Only one in eight or 13% said their property had been stolen from them in the past year and only 5% said they were assaulted or mugged. The world average of law and order index score was at 81 out of a possible 100, a point lower than the Philippines’ score.
By global region, citizens from East Asia were the most likely to feel secure in their communities, with an index score of 87, followed by Southeast Asia (86), Western Europe (85), and US and Canada region (85). Meanwhile, citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Sub-Saharan Africa were the least likely to feel secure, with an index score of 62 and 68, respectively.
The report asked the following questions:
• In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?
• Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
• Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
• Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?

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