MANILA, Philippines - A report by Kyodo News has shown that the number of crimes committed in the Philippines declined by 13% in 2016, indicating a continuation of the downtrend in the last four years.
Based on the data gathered by Kyodo News from the records of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the total crime volume dropped from 675, 816 recorded incidents in 2015 to 584,809 in 2016. In the last several years, crime rates have been declining in the country. While the number of crimes documented in 2013 was 846,147, it slid down to 714, 632 in 2014.
About one-fifth of the total crime volume in 2016 was classified as index crime. Index crimes like murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, robbery and theft are "serious in nature and which occur with sufficient frequency and regularity such that they can serve as an index to the crime situation.” These crimes accounted for 139,462 crimes for 2016.
On the other hand, there were 445, 347 non-index crimes or crimes that involve violations of special laws and ordinances last year.
For local crime watch group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs has contributed to the decrease in the number of crimes in 2016.
In an interview with Kyodo News, the group’s founding chairman Dante Jimenez said: “He has really shown the political will to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs and to really pin down drug suspects.”
He added that lawmakers should also pass a law reinstating death penalty in the Philippines and a bill lowering the age of criminal liability to discourage people from committing crimes.
According to PNP Chief General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the decrease in the number of crimes during the first months of the Duterte administration was driven by the government’s all-out war against illegal drugs. More than 2,500 drug suspects have been killed in police operations from July 2016 until the end of January 2017, causing to much criticism of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
--Mini, The Summit Express
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| PHOTO CREDIT: NDTV.com |
About one-fifth of the total crime volume in 2016 was classified as index crime. Index crimes like murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, robbery and theft are "serious in nature and which occur with sufficient frequency and regularity such that they can serve as an index to the crime situation.” These crimes accounted for 139,462 crimes for 2016.
On the other hand, there were 445, 347 non-index crimes or crimes that involve violations of special laws and ordinances last year.
For local crime watch group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs has contributed to the decrease in the number of crimes in 2016.
In an interview with Kyodo News, the group’s founding chairman Dante Jimenez said: “He has really shown the political will to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs and to really pin down drug suspects.”
He added that lawmakers should also pass a law reinstating death penalty in the Philippines and a bill lowering the age of criminal liability to discourage people from committing crimes.
According to PNP Chief General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the decrease in the number of crimes during the first months of the Duterte administration was driven by the government’s all-out war against illegal drugs. More than 2,500 drug suspects have been killed in police operations from July 2016 until the end of January 2017, causing to much criticism of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
--Mini, The Summit Express
