PHILIPPINES AMONG TOP FIVE PEACE NATIONS?

MANILA, Philippines - The 2012 Global Peace Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has cited the Philippines improving efforts towards the achievement of peace.
According to the IEP, the country went up in rank from a list of 158 countries from 135 in 2011 to 133 in 2012. The other countries in the top five improvement ranking are Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bhutan and Guyana.

• According to its website, the IEP “is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organisation dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.”
• “IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measurement; uncovering the relationship between peace, business and prosperity; and by promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic and political factors that drive peacefulness,” the organisation said.
• In comparison to the top five peace risers, the IEP cited the top five fallers as: Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Oman and Malawi — countries where there are ongoing political strife.
• Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), said the improving peace index ranking, means that the government’s efforts towards peace is being recognised by the international community.

She said, these will further raise the public’s hopes for a just and lasting peace.
The 2012 Global Peace Index report also stated that the Philippines’ high score was a result of improvements in the indicators which are homicide rate; number of deaths from internal conflict; likelihood of violent demonstrations; and incidence of terrorist acts.

Source: Agency