MANILA, Philippines – Despite a rash of shooting incidents amid the Commission of Election’s total gun ban, a recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Station showed that more than half of Filipinos nationwide are contented with Philippine National Police’s performance.
Speaking to reporters, PNP chief, Director General Alan Purisima, said the quarterly survey results showed that six out of 10 Filipinos were satisfied with the PNP, noting that this figure posted an all-time high record of +50 satisfaction rating since the first survey in 1998.
The SWS study was conducted last December 8 to 11, 2012, when the national police was still under its former chief, Director General Nicanor Bartolome.
On the supposed worsening crime situation in the country, Purisima said that while the recent spate of shooting incidents challenged the first few months of his leadership, there has been an apparent stop of “higher forms” of criminal acts such as kidnappings, bank robberies and carjacking.
“In the past we were bombarded with kidnappings, bank robberies . . . carjacking. But do you [still] see those things now? [No] because the police have acted on it,” Purisima said.
Regarding the mall robberies and shooting incidents recently, Purisima said: “We are addressing it squarely and we are conducting discussions with security guard agency owners.”
He said his meeting with security managers of malls and universities assessed the level of preparedness of the private security industry in guarding various establishments.
During the meeting, Purisima said that it has been agreed that there should be a review of security systems and procedures, including a re-training of security guards on marksmanship, self defense and emergency response.
Purisima said it was also decided that there would be a regular meeting with mall security managers and other stakeholders for closer coordination.
“The result of this survey will serve as our inspiration as we carry out our mandate of serving and protecting the people,” Purisima said as he appealed to the public to report to crimes that they may have encountered.