PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. (Valerie Escalera/NIB photo)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said index crimes in the country have been on a steady downtrend during President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s first 56 days in office.
Speaking at a Palace press briefing, PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said the trend has been observed when compared with data from the same period during the start of previous administrations -- 2010 (under former President Benigno Aquino III) and 2016 (under former President Rodrigo Duterte).
He said index crimes refer to offenses considered as serious in nature with sufficient frequency and regularity -- murder, homicide, rape, robbery, theft, carnapping, and physical injury.
From July 1 to Aug. 25 this year, theft cases decreased to 1,896 from 7,514 in 2016 and 12,773 in 2010 while physical injury cases also dropped to 579 from 3,777 in 2016 and 10,208 in 2010.
The same trend was also seen in cases of robbery (793 from 3,028 in 2016 and 6,580 in 2010; murder (649 from 2,332 in 2016 and 1,423 in 2010; carnapping (280 from 1,253 in 2016 and 1,169 in 2010); rape (903 from 1,666 in 2016 and 704 in 2010); and homicide (161 from 345 in 2016 and 614 in 2010).
He said the continuous monitoring and follow-up of cases and strategies by the investigators have contributed to improving crime clearance and solution efficiencies.
“Ang datos ng pagbaba ng krimen ay patunay din na tumataas ang kakayahan ng PNP sa aspeto ng paglutas ng krimen. Makikita ninyo sa datos na tumaas ang crime clearance by 94.65 percent at crime solution efficiency by 82.28 percent mula 2010 hanggang sa 2022 (The data of the decrease in crime is also a proof that the PNP's ability in the aspect of solving crimes is also increasing. You can see from the data that crime clearance increased by 94.65 percent and crime solution efficiency by 82.28 percent from 2010 to 2022),” Azurin said.
Earlier, Azurin said the peace and order situation in the country is stable as he allayed public fear amid the reported abductions and killings in the past few weeks.
Azurin also cautioned the public against an apparent “sensational surge in social media reporting of some crime incidents,” saying many of these are previously reported cases that had been categorized as solved by PNP units.
“Other purported crime incidents posted in social media turned out to be either rehashed or completely false information. The PNP would like to do our part in educating our people to be more discerning of the true situation, particularly on crime matters, and be able to distinguish between crime hike and crime hype,” he noted. (PNA)
