MANILA, Philippines — Most areas in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) have logged an uptick in index crimes, police records show.
Brigadier General Allan Nobleza, the director of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Police Regional Office, presented the data during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on Wednesday.
Nobleza said the number of index crimes increased from 768 on Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, to 892 on Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023.
Lanao del Sur logged the biggest uptick in index crimes from 185 to 246.
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Also, Maguindanao del Sur’s index crimes increased from 151 to 171, while it rose from 133 to 159 in Maguindanao del Norte, from 86 to 101 in Basilan, and from 24 to 38 in Tawi-Tawi.
On the other hand, Cotabato City posted lower index crimes from 106 to 99, while Sulu’s index crimes also dropped from 83 to 78.
Index crimes, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, are crimes that the Philippine National Police (PNP) deemed “serious in nature” as they frequently occur to the extent of these being a tell-tale sign of how crime-ridden an area is.
Among those considered index crimes are murder, homicide, physical injury, car theft, robbery, theft, and rape.
Nobleza presented the crime statistics as the Senate committee launched an investigation on the alleged involvement of PNP personnel in the Oct. 2023 shootout in Cotabato City which led to the death of three people posting campaign materials for the October 30 elections.