FILE PHOTO: Residents wearing face masks and shields queue up to receive a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine inside a Catholic church turned into a vaccination center in Quezon City, Philippines, on May 21, 2021. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Of 134 countries, the Philippines ranked at the bottom of an international business magazine’s list of the world’s safest countries this 2021.
In Global Finance’s ranking of the world’s safest countries, the Philippines again was at the bottom of its list just like in the magazine’s 2019 list which then evaluated 128 nations.
The magazine said it took into account three fundamental factors to determine the countries’ safety scores — war and peace, personal security, and natural disaster risk, including factors stemming from the COVID-19.
The Philippines was given a score of 14.8899, just a few decimal points higher than Colombia which ranked 133rd with a score of 14.8461. The higher a country’s score is, the lower it is in terms of ranking.
“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,” the publication said.
Nigeria, Yemen, and El Salvador ranked 131st, 126th, and 124th, respectively, joining the Philippines at the bottom of the list.
As of July 8, the Philippines’ death toll due to COVID-19 is at 25,650.
Meanwhile, Iceland topped the list as the safest country with an index score of 3.9724.
It was followed by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand.
INQUIRER.net tried to get Malacañang’s side on this matter but has yet to receive a response, as of this writing.