Crime has fallen by eight percent in the last 10 months, with nearly eight out of 10 cases considered as petty crimes, the Philippine National Police reported Thursday.
Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP spokesman, said the dip in crime incidents was due to their efforts to wage “intelligence-driven” operations against organized crime groups and street gangs.
Based on the Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, the total volume of crimes dropped by 8.44 percent, Carlos said.
Only 452,204 incidents were recorded from January to October this year, down from 493,912 incidents from the same 10-month period last year. The data also revealed a 20.56-percent drop in Index Crime cases during the same period, the PNP spokesman said.
Of the total crime volume, 79.08 percent or 357,639 incidents were non-index crime cases, while 94,565 incidents or 20.91 percent were index crimes, he added.
Crime volumes fell in all regions except Southern Luzon (Calabarzon) and Northern Mindanao, where slight increases in non-index crimes were noted, Carlos noted.
Across the country, all regions posted marked declines in the index crime cases of murder, physical injury, robbery, theft, rape, carnapping and cattle-rustling, the PNP DIDM data showed.
Theft cases made up 32.44 percent of all recorded index crimes, while physical injury comprised 28.44 percent and robbery 14.75 percent of the cases, Carlos said.
Corresponding decreases were seen among murder and physical injury cases during the period, he added.
DIDM chief Director Augusto Marquez Jr. said index crimes are violation of special laws and other less serious criminal offenses.
“Non-index crime cases are not accurate indicators of the overall prevailing crime situation, rather, it reflects the effectiveness of police operations in the enforcement of special laws, statutes and local ordinances,” Marquez said in a statement.
The PNP recorded 139,292 cases of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property, mostly arising from road and industrial accidents, or 38.95 percent of non-index cases, he added. An additional 65,838 cases of reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury made up 18.41 percent of the total.
Another 25.51 percent of non-index crime cases were 91,235 incidents of violation of Special Laws such as Republic Act 9262 (violence against women and children), 19,593 cases; RA 7610 (child abuse), 14,592; RA 9165 (illegal drugs), 36,347; RA 10591 (illegal firearms), 4,838; PD 705 (illegal logging), 1,338; RA 4136 (traffic codes), 4,569; RA 9344 (Juvenile Welfare Act), 1,092; and RA 9287 (illegal gambling), 9,430.
Also included among the non-index crime cases reported in January to October were 56,020 incidents or 15.66 percent of other less serious criminal offenses such as acts of lasciviousness, alarm and scandal, direct assault, estafa, threats, malicious mischief, and unjust vexation.