4M Filipinos are crime victims

THE SOCIAL Weather Station survey citing that 4-million Pinoys are crime victims in 2014 alone sounds realistic. And this statistic could be lower or higher depending on the incidents being reported by different police units in the countryside.

In Central Luzon, the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) made sure that the number of crimes, be it an index or non-index, are properly recorded on a daily basis. This made them easy to check specific figures in terms of criminality.

The increase in the number of crimes is due to PNP’s transparency and systematic reporting, unlike before where the real figures are kept away from the eyes of media to portray a “situation under control” in a specific community.

Based on the latest SWS survey which was taken from November 27 to December 1 among 1,800 adult Filipinos, 6.7 percent or 4-million families claimed to have been fallen victim to common crimes, with an average of 12 crimes for every 10 victimized families.

Of this figure, 6.2 percent or 1.4-million Filipino families lost household items and properties to thieves, while 0.7 percent or 153,000 had said that members of their families were hurt by physical violence in the past six months.

Although the figure this quarter is lower than the previous period, families expressed fears of living in their neighborhood, particularly because of the presence of drug addicts.

The fear of being victimized by drug addicts stood at 52 percent in the new survey, a record high and a five-point leap from 47 percent in 2013.

Aside from drug addicts, 59 percent of Filipinos fear robbers breaking into their homes, a one point decrease compared to the 60-percent figure in 2013; 49 percent are afraid of walking in the streets at night, a point higher from the 48-percent figure in 2013 and also the highest since the average of 50-percent in 2008.

Percentages for Filipinos’ “neighborhood fears” went down slightly in the fourth quarter of 2014. Burglary is feared by 58 percent, a slight dip from third quarter’s 60 percent, while 48 percent fear unsafe streets compared to 51 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the number of residents who expressed fears on the presence of drug addicts remained at 52 percent in the last quarter of 2014.

The numbers are still high despite a record annual low of 7.5 percent in the average common crime victimization rate, a 10-point decrease from the previous record low of 8.5 percent in 2013.

The SWS pointed out that victimization by any common crime has been at single-digit levels since March 2012, except in March 2013 when it was at 10.5 percent. The figure was at its lowest in June 2014 at 6.5 percent.

For the fourth quarter, 6.7 percent of respondents, equivalent to four million families, said that either they or their kin were victims of common crimes involving property or violence.

This is lower than the 7.9 percent, or 4.7 million families, recorded in the third quarter. Also in the fourth quarter, there was an average of 12 crimes for every 10 victimized families.

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HERE’S A letter from one of declassified Files readers: All your comments and those others like the Regional Training School officers and staff are valid. I would like to add my penny worth of opinion.

Ninety percent of those new graduates from RTS coming from training are not properly motivated.

When applicants visit the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the Police Regional Human Resource and Personnel Division, they were asked why they wanted to join the PNP?
The answer is: “I don’t have a job. I’m a college graduate but I can’t find job fit for what I’ve learned in the college, kaya magpu-pulis na lamang ako.”

These rookie cops, if not all, see the PNP as a last resort to land a job. The service to God and people is not a priority. –DECLASSIFIED, Jess Malabanan
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SEND YOUR comments and suggestions to declassified Files through jess.malabanan@yahoo.com.Extremely violent reactions are also welcome.