The Philippines is apparently a "failed State", if Foreign Policy's 2009 Failed State Index is to be believed (click here). The Index makes use of 12 indicators (i.e., Demographic Pressures, Refugees/IDPs, Group Grievance, Human Flight, Uneven Development, Economic Decline, Delegitimization of the State, Public Services, Human Rights, Security Apparatus, Factionalized Elites, and External Intervention) of State cohesion and performance, compiled through a close examination of more than 30,000 publicly available sources.
A "failed State" is said to have certain attributes. One of the most common is the loss of physical control of its territory or a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Other attributes of State failure include the erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions, an inability to provide reasonable public services, and the inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community. The 12 indicators cover a wide range of elements of the risk of state failure, such as extensive corruption and criminal behavior, inability to collect taxes or otherwise draw on citizen support, large-scale involuntary dislocation of the population, sharp economic decline, group-based inequality, institutionalized persecution or discrimination, severe demographic pressures, brain drain, and environmental decay.
Of 177 States examined in order from most to least at risk of failure, 60 most vulnerable states are then listed in the failed State Index rankings. The Philippines ranks 53.
