The country’s crime rate has dropped by 11.36 percent in the first four months of this year, a ranking police official said Thursday. In a Laging Handa briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) Public Information Office chief Col. Redrico Maranan said a total of 12,226 crime incidents were recorded from January 1 to May 2, as compared to 13,763 crimes in the same period last year. ‘Nakapagbaba tayo ng 1,500 plus na krimen at iyan po ay iyong mga eight focused crimes. Kaya nakikita natin, iyong ating different anti-criminality strategies, nakikita naman natin na ito po ay epektibo (We were able to reduce 1,500 plus crimes of the so-called eight focus crimes. That’s why we see, our different anti-criminality strategies, we see that it is effective),’ he added. The eight focus crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, vehicle theft, motorcycle theft and rape. Index crimes are serious crimes such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, rape, theft, and carjacking, while non-index crimes are violations of local ordinances and laws and vehicular accidents. Maranan said that under PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr.’s leadership, the PNP will deploy policemen in barangays identified by the local police forces as crime-prone areas as part of preemptive efforts against criminality. ‘The focus of our new PNP chief, Gen. Acorda, is to assign police to crime-prone barangays. We have already identified that and that will be the priority of our deployment… in the crime-prone barangays. And we have also identified police regional offices that will be the ones to lead because in their area of responsibility, that’s where we saw those barangays with the most crime occurring,’ he added. Maranan earlier said the move is a strategic action plan as the national police do not have enough manpower to guard over 100 million Filipinos across the country. Maranan explained that police visibility has been proven as a crime deterrent over the years. He emphasized the importance of the cooperation of the barangay officials in maintaining peace and order. He said that strong coordination between the police and the community lies on the cooperation between the two, adding that it is the police commanders who are given the task to initiate it. ‘The PNP cannot deploy policemen in each of the barangay. What we do is to cluster the barangay and then we either put up Police Community Precincts, police assistance desks or even a police outpost. We believe that if this is properly implemented, we would be able to reduce the crime, especially in the crime-prone barangays,” he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency