PNP Reports Lower Crime Rate After 3 Months of 'Safer Cities' Initiative

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has reported a decrease in crime rates across the country three months after the implementation of the “Safer Cities” initiative. “The Philippines is safer now as compared to the previous periods,” PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co said in an interview with reporters in Camp Crame on Friday. “We understand that this is a small consolation if we don’t feel that crime rates are down. We see sensational cases happening, but in our statistics, crime is going down,” he added. READ: PNP: Crime rate down 16% under ‘safer cities’ drive Focus crime rates across the country decreased by 20.6 percent from 9,506 cases from Jan. 6 to April 5; to 7,883 cases from April 6 to July 4, according to a PNP presentation shown during an online Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) forum last Thursday. Focus crimes refer to theft; carnapping of motorcycles and motor vehicles; robbery; physical injury; rape; homicide; and murder. The PNP presentation also detailed that murder cases dropped by 2.5 percent during the same period; theft cases by 14.4 percent; carnapping of motorcycle cases by 15.8 percent; homicide cases by 21.5 percent; robbery cases by 22.9 percent; physical injury cases by 27.8 percent; rape cases by 38.9 percent; and carnapping of motor vehicles by 48.4 percent. “Why did it decrease? Because the would-be perpetrators were removed from the streets,” Co said during the online forum. The Safer Cities initiative was launched last April 6 and tasked law enforcers to implement stricter bans on drinking in public spaces; karaoke use beyond permitted hours; roaming the streets without shirts; and violations of curfews for minors. The DILG formed the initiative as part of a bid to lower crime rates. /mr