PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. (Photo from the PNP Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s crime rate dropped by 10.15 percent in the first six months this year as compared to the same period in 2022, the Philippine National Police said on Monday.
Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the PNP, said there was a continuing decline in peace and order indicators, particularly index crimes, which dropped from 20,657 in January to June 2022 to 18,560 in the same period this year.
The figures, however, do not include cybercrimes, which have reached an all-time high, prompting the PNP to consider lumping them among the major crimes to better address them. Cybercrimes were earlier reported to have increased by around 192 percent nationwide and 152 percent in Metro Manila.
“We are now conducting a study to determine if these cybercrime-related activities could be included in our index crimes,” Fajardo told reporters.
The average monthly crime rate of these focus crimes has gone down by 10.13 percent from 3.06 in 2022 to 2.75 in 2023.