DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (Presidential photo)
MANILA – Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said people from all walks of life now feel safer due to constant police presence and support programs provided by the government to communities, which resulted in a decline in the country's crime rate in the last five years.
“Dahil din sa mga hakbanging ito ay bumaba ang dami ng krimen sa ating bansa ng 34 percent, at mga index crime ng 70 percent noong 2020 kumpara sa taong 2016, at patuloy po itong bumababa ngayong taon. Kahit po sa survey, masasabi po na ang mga kababayan natin ay sabi nila ay mas feel nilang ligtas sila (Because of these efforts, our crime rate has dipped by 34 percent while index crimes dropped by 70 percent in 2020 as compared to 2016's figures and it continues to further go down this year. Even in surveys, our kababayans say they feel safer),” Año told President Rodrigo Duterte during his Talk to the People on Monday night.
Año noted that from a total of 139,111 incidents in 2016, the number of index crimes decreased to 41,260 in 2020 and is now at 27,523 for the first nine months of this year.
Index crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. These crimes serve as a common indicator of the nation's crime experience because of their seriousness and frequency of occurrence.
Citing the improved national crime situation under the Duterte administration, Año said crime volume was at a decreasing trend from 584,883 in 2016; 383,189 in 2020, and 282,631 in the first eight months of 2021.
Through the government’s internal cleansing efforts, Año said every complaint against rogue uniformed personnel was thoroughly investigated which led to appropriate sanctions and even dismissal from the service.
A total of 5,178 police officers, 16 fire personnel, and 50 jail workers were dismissed from the service due to various infractions.
The DILG chief also disclosed that 84 policemen who tested positive for illegal drugs were dismissed from the service while 28 cops were arrested on illegal drug charges.
From 2016 to 2021, 307,521 drug personalities were arrested with 13,244 identified as high-value targets (HVT) in 213,504 illegal drug operations where PHP64.09 billion worth of illegal drugs were seized.
This excludes the PHP10 billion worth of illegal drugs confiscated by law enforcers in the past two months.
The intensified campaign of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti Illegal Drugs (ICAD) led to the declaration of 22,858 barangays as drug cleared out of the country's 42,045 barangays and the establishment of 22 Regional Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation under the supervision of the Department of Health (DOH).
Año revealed that under the rehabilitation program led by the Philippine National Police (PNP), 50 percent of the 1.2 million arrested drug dependents who were treated in the facility graduated from the project.
Fight vs. insurgency
In the fight against communist terrorism, Año said the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) has benefited a total of 7,244 former rebels (FRs) and Militia ng Bayan who have been provided with financial assistance worth PHP541 million.
The DILG chief also bared that a total of PHP16.24 billion worth of projects under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) that consist of 2,317 projects for 812 barangays were cleared from the influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).
“Bukod po sa pagpapanatili ng kapayapaan, tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang pagpapanday upang maging progresibo ang ating mga komunidad. Ito ay sa pamamagitan nang pagsuporta sa pagpapatayo ng mga mahahalagang imprastruktura at iba pang proyekto na siyang susi sa tunay na pag-unlad ng mga barangay (Aside from maintaining peace, we continue to work hard to make our communities progressive. This is through supporting the construction of essential infrastructure and other projects that are keys to genuine development of communities),” he added.
The BDP is the hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) with the end goal of bringing development to former CPP-NPA conflict-affected and geographically isolated communities.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
Pandemic response
As part of efforts to foster economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic, Año said the DILG has provided a Safety Seal Certification to establishments and local government units.
He added that LGUs continue to expedite their vaccination drives.
“As you have instructed, I met with the mayors and governors last week. Now, we continue to boost our vaccination because we want to attain the 70 percent first dose vaccination rate of our eligible population by November 30 and 70 percent full vaccination of the eligible population by December 31,” Año told Duterte.
He also instructed the LGUs to form their respective contact tracing teams with their contact tracers taken from the agency for the rollout of the StaySafe.PH application and continue to ensure that each LGU has isolation facilities. (PNA)
