RP crime incidence drops

THE overall crime incidence in the country has significantly dropped during the first six month of the year, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP). Crime data culled by the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management showed that index crime or crime against persons sharply dropped to 66.84 percent and 71.31 percent for non-index crime cases or crimes against property.

Total crime volume for the said period dropped to 68.63 percent compared with the crime record for the same period in 2009.

Records also showed a double-digit reduction in all crime cases categorized as crimes against persons such as murder (54.2 percent), homicide (62.92 percent) and physical injuries (71.74 percent) and crimes against property such as robbery (62.38 percent), theft (65.76 percent), carnapping (53.94 percent) and cattle-rustling (72.47 percent).

The PNP chief, Director General Jesus Verzosa, attributed the considerable drop in crime volume to the intensified law enforcement and security operations during the nationwide implementation of the 150-day nationwide gunban for the 2010 national and local elections that was in effect from January to June.

“What is very noticeable here is the direct effect of the gunban to peace and order, particularly the gun-related crimes that were effectively prevented when the instruments of crime were virtually “taken away” from the hands of criminal elements, threat groups and other unauthorized individuals,” Verzosa said.

At the same time, Verzosa also disclosed that the intensified police operations during the first semester has also resulted in the arrest of 11,265 persons wanted by the law for various criminal offenses.

The arrested persons, he said, were among the subjects of 14,092 warrants of arrest issued by the judiciary in January to June this year.

Of the number, 19 were on the list of the “most wanted” with rewards for their arrest. Three wanted persons were killed in separate armed encounters with lawmen while 123 other wanted suspects surrendered.

The latest wanted suspects to fall were Pedro Benwaren y Tibuk, 69 and Pedro Benwaren y Layugan, 40. Both were arrested in their hideout in Barangay Santo Cristo, Capas, Tarlac on Friday by police and military intelligence agents.

Both suspects are the subjects of a warrant of arrest issued by a local court in Bangued, Abra in connection with the 2007 murder of Brenda Crisologo, wife of an incumbent Abra mayor.

Verzosa also explained that the PNP has adopted the National Crime Reporting System (NCRS) since last year.

He described the NCRS as an efficient and accurate system of crime reported, as it requires all PNP units to report crime incidents to the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame for centralized recording.

“In our desire to continuously develop new methods of counting and recording crime incidents to correct some of the noted defects in our current method of crime measurement and analysis, we have come up with a new system of generating timely and accurate crime statistics from the field by revising the Police Regional Office Periodic Report” Verzosa said.

For his part, the PNP spokesman, Senior Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., explained that to effectively implement the new crime reporting system, all PNP units were required as well to submit the Unit Crime Periodic Report (UCPER) to the national headquarters for consolidation.

Cruz said the UCPER is designed to promote consistency in recording crime incidents to serve as an effective tool in deriving accurate assessment of the prevailing crime situation, and prescribes a uniform procedure for the PNP in reporting and collecting crime data including cases reported to other law enforcement agencies that compose the Criminal. –WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTER, Manila Times