PNP: Crime rate up due to ‘smarter’ criminals

MANILA, Philippines — Admitting a sharp rise in reported crimes in the metropolis, the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) offered a simple explanation: The criminals have apparently become “smarter.”

Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr. said on Tuesday that a stark example of criminals using all sorts of tricks was seen in a case in Quezon City last week when three men disguised as policemen gate-crashed a birthday party and robbed the guests.

“In that incident, the (perpetrators) slipped into the house while there was a party. If they held up the victims outside the house, then there’s a possibility that (village watchmen) or patrolling policemen would notice them,” Cerbo said in a news briefing.

“That’s a new modus operandi of crime groups. It means that they also shift or adjust the way they execute their plans,” he said.

“Those criminals are not actually brazen, but they have found a way to exploit lapses in security,” he said. “The criminals have become smarter. That’s what happened, more or less.”

Records from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) showed that 29,231 crimes were reported in Metro Manila during the first half of 2012. This was 57-percent higher than the 18,671 recorded crimes during the same period in 2011.

Cerbo said PNP Director General Nicanor Bartolome had directed NCRPO Director Alan Purisima to step up the anti-criminality drive in the capital.

According to Cerbo, increased police visibility in 21 known crime hotspots in the NCR foiled the attempts of certain crime groups to carry out robberies and other attacks.

“We would like to assure the public that the PNP will do its best to keep our communities safe,” he said, adding that the PNP “is giving the criminals a dose of their own medicine by being more aggressive.”