On Thursday, April 25, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos, alongside the Philippine National Police (PNP), reported significant developments in the Philippines’ criminal landscape as crime rates declined under President Ferdinand “Bonbong” Marcos Jr.’s administration.
During the National Peace and Order Council Meeting held at Malacañang, Abalos emphasized that the PNP has made significant strides in reducing crime rates, enhancing crime clearance, and improving overall solution efficiency, all of which were said to be aligned with the Marcos administration’s peace and order agenda.
According to the reports presented by the DILG, there has been a substantial decrease in index crime volume, from 196,519 incidents in the pre-pandemic period (July 1, 2016, to April 21, 2018) to 71,544 incidents in the period spanning July 1, 2022, to April 21, 2024.
Similarly, peace and order indicators have seen a decline from 541,917 to 371,801 during the same periods.
Moreover, the average monthly crime rate dropped from 21.92 to 15.04, while focus crimes such as theft, physical injury, robbery, rape, murder, carnapping, and homicide plummeted by 63.79 percent (from 196,420 cases to 71,133).
A downturn trend was also evident in non-index crime volume, as its incident numbers decreased from 345,398 to 300,257.
Additionally, Abalos also revealed that the PNP has attained 98.88 percent total crime clearance efficiency from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, surpassing the previous period’s report by 0.32 percent.
Reports further claimed that from January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the PNP also recorded a total crime solution efficiency of 82.69 percent, which is 0.62 percent higher than the figures reported from October 2021 to December 2022.
Abalos attributed these achievements to the sustained crime prevention programs, public safety initiatives, and collaborative efforts between the DILG and the PNP. | Kian Kirby F. Florano