Philippines’ Academic Freedom Index score nears 40-year low

The Philippines saw its score drop to an almost four-decade low of 0.624 (out of 1, 1 is best) in the 2025 update of the Academic Freedom Index. The report, released by the researchers from Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and the V-Dem Institute, evaluates academic freedom worldwide across key indicators, including institutional autonomy, campus integrity, and freedom of expression in academia and culture. Despite the decline, the country ranked sixth-highest among its peers in East and Southeast Asia.