MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to further reduce the crime rate in the country despite the notable decrease in the number of index crimes.
“Well, first of all, very encouraging itong index crimes natin. Perhaps we can work a little bit doon sa lahat ng figures for those crimes. Well, most of them are going down. Medyo kailangan lang natin tingnan and see what are the underlying reasons na hindi pa masyadong bumababa,” President Marcos said during the 2nd PNP Command Conference in Camp Crame on Wednesday.
“But everything has gone down. Theft has gone down, rape has gone down pero mataas pa rin, mataas pa rin ‘yung rape. Other index crimes and all of them are more or less — at least we can say that we are doing better than we were before,” he further remarked.
President Marcos said it has to be made public that the police force is really helping people and show that it is doing all it can despite its present limitations.
With regard to fighting cybercrime, the government still has to improve its capabilities, although because of the current deterrence, offenders are already being apprehended.
“We will improve our capability. Nagulat nga ako they don’t have a server. Kaya’t mahirapan talagang proteksyonan kung hiwa-hiwalay. Although there’s also an element of security ‘yung standalone,” said the President.
“Because that would require so much for effort and the technology that will be there, pati hardware diyan magiging tama ‘yan, ‘yung sa cybercrimes. We’re improving the rate at which we are able to take the crime, and we are able to prosecute those who are implicated in those crimes.”
Despite the present setup, the President said consolidating PNP data through the use of a central database is needed to enhance security.
The government is also doing better in the fight against illegal drugs, he said, noting the confiscation of 321 tons of illegal narcotics in the first five months of 2024.
“But I think that also is another very good deterrent factor na talagang hinuhuli natin ‘yung — nagre-raid tayo, nakakahanap tayo ng mga drug bearer. ‘Yung pinagtataguan ng drugs, ‘yun ang talagang kailangan nating gawin. I-raid natin nang i-raid so the availability of drugs is lesser. And that will improve the situation for the police and, of course, for our people,” he said.
In its report to President Marcos during the command conference, the PNP said the number of crimes decreased by 8.264 percent, from 204,557 from July 2022 to May 2023 to 187,652 from July 2023 to May 31, 2024.
Crime solution efficiency also remained relatively stable at the 60 percent mark throughout the nearly two-year period.
In the campaign against illegal drugs, the PNP reported the conduct of 92,904 operations, which led to the arrest of 116,740 individuals and seizure of PhP11.89 billion worth of illegal drugs.
These include 1,213,689.66 grams of shabu; 9,673,808.00 grams of dried marijuana leaves; and 7,818.323 grams of marijuana plants.
The PNP also reported successes in the campaign against cybercrime. It said 421 entrapment operations were conducted; and 13 search warrants were served. Further, 548 warrants of arrest, and 53 warrants to search, seize, and examine computer data were made.
Those operations led in the arrest of 1,370 individuals; rescue of 4,157 victims; and filing of 1,975 cases in court. (PND)
