Melo Villareal
From 70th to 72nd, Philippine passport now ranked 80th
The Philippine passport has slipped in the latest Henley Passport Index which counts how many countries and territories a passport holder can go without a prior visa.
Most powerful passport in the world
Ranked as 70th to 72nd in 2018 Henley release, the Philippine passport is now ranked at the 80th spot with visa-free access to 64 destinations compared to 66 destinations last year.
“This puts it behind other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Thailand, and even African nations like Tanzania and Uganda. In fact, based on our historical data, the Philippines has only improved by two score points in the last five years – in 2014, Filipinos had visa-free/visa on arrival access to 62 countries,” Henley & Partners said in a release.
“In contrast, the Indonesian passport has improved by 13 score points in the last five years to give Indonesians visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 69 countries, from just 56 countries in 2014,” it said.
According to the latest Henley index, Afghanistan has the weakest passport in the world with visa-free access to 25 destinations.
In the Asean region, Myanmar has the least powerful passport with visa-free access to just 46 countries. Laos and Vietnam share the ninth spot with visa-free access to 49 countries.
Henley added that they had seen a demand from Filipinos for second citizenship from countries such as Cyprus, Malta, and Grenada.
“We have been seeing demand from Filipinos for second citizenship from countries such as Cyprus, Malta and Grenada. And according to a Wealth-X report, Philippines’ high net worth (HNW) population is expected to grow by 9.4% growth by 2023. So we can expect more and more wealthy Filipinos looking to alternative citizenship as a way to improve their travel mobility and freedom,” it said.
Henley & Partners said their ranking is based on “exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information and enhanced by ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.”
Check out our complete list of recommended Hotels via Agoda or you may also see available Airbnb properties in the city.
Also read: 66 Visa-Free Destinations a Philippine Passport Holder can visit this 2019
