In terms of the number of countries where the Philippine passport grants visa-free access, the nation’s passport has seen significant gains in recent years.
Meanwhile, the ongoing corruption scandals in Manila are likely to affect the passport’s standing in the near future.
The Henley Passport Index, a world ranking of passport strength, evaluates access to 227 destinations based on visa-free entry to foreign countries. The data come from the International Air Transport Association.
As of October 2025, the Philippine passport ranked 72nd globally, an improvement from 75th at the start of 2025 and 73rd in 2024.
The Philippine passport today grants visa-free access to 65 foreign destinations.
The Philippine passport’s worst performance was during the pandemic in 2021, when it ranked 83 on the Henley Passport Index. It peaked at 62 in 2007-2009.
The modest uptick this year is attributed to improved diplomatic relations and new visa waivers, such as extended access to Taiwan, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
Current rankings put the nation ahead of countries like Vietnam, which ranks 75, and Cambodia, at 78. But it is behind regional peers such as Malaysia, at 12, and Thailand, 60.
Globally, the top spot goes to Singapore, which is No.1 and provides access to 195 destinations.
The bottom feeder is Afghanistan, at 199, with access to just 26 destinations.
Recent international reporting on the corruption in Manila likely will affect the number of countries that Filipinos will have visa-free access to.
This is because there is a noteworthy correlation between international perceptions of government corruption and the level of visa-free access provided by a country’s passport.
The Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International and the Henley Passport Index show a correlation of 77 percent.
This suggests that lower perceived corruption is associated with stronger diplomatic relations and trust from other nations, facilitating easier travel.
No better example of this is the U.S. passport, which used to be a “gold standard” for visa-free travel worldwide. Today, due to internal corruption and the mismanagement of international relations, the U.S. passport has slipped to No. 10 on the Henley Passport Index, and it is likely to slip further.
The Philippine passport’s strength today grants Filipino holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 65 destinations worldwide, out of 227, but the numbers change frequently due to minor policy changes such as stricter rules imposed recently in Armenia and Togo, for example.
Sixty-five equates to about 29 percent global reach. Visa-free stays typically range from 14–90 days.
Meanwhile, foreign travel plays an important role in the daily lives of Filipinos. More than 3 million passports are issued annually by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
However, there have been dramatic changes in the number of Philippine passports issued annually in recent years. Largely because of Republic Act No. 10928, which extended passport validity from 5 to 10 years starting in 2017, overall demand for new passports dropped. There was a sharp decline again to 1.7 million in 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that limited travel. This was followed by a strong recovery in 2021 as mobility increased after the pandemic.
According to both the Department of Tourism and the Bureau of Immigration, more than 7 million Filipinos traveled overseas last year, mainly to nearby Asian countries. The most popular destinations for Filipinos have been Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
People standing in line to go through customs in a foreign country might notice that some Filipino traveling companions have different colored passports. This is because there are three main types of passports issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs: regular passports, which are maroon in color, for ordinary citizens; official passports, colored red, for government employees; and diplomatic passports, which are black and are for high-ranking officials such as the president, vice president, and diplomats.
Local mayors and provincial governors qualify for a red passport if they meet special circumstances, like visiting a sister city overseas.
This color scheme for Philippine passports is not a local standard, but part of an international set of regulations and conventions established by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency within the United Nations. The organization also sets standards for passport size, number of pages allowed, thickness, page designs and machine readability.
Travelers can get a passport by visiting the Department of Foreign Affairs online. The fee is ₱950.
Bryce McIntyre, PhD, resides in San Andres. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA. Grok AI was employed in research for this article.