Crime incidence in the Philippines has been going down since 2010 but at a decelerating pace, according to the latest government data.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority-National Statistical Coordination Board, 324,083 crimes were recorded in 2010, down 35.53 percent from 502,665 in 2009.
Between 2010 and 2011, the total crime volume decreased 23.8 percent to 246,958. In 2012, 217,812 incidents of crimes were recorded, a drop of 11.8 percent from 2011.
Crime rate, which is the number of crimes committed per 100,000 population, follows the same trend, falling from 552 in 2009 to 350 in 2010, 262 in 2011 and 227 in 2012.
According to the Senate Economic Planning Office’s publication, “Crime Statistics: At a Glance,” crime solution efficiency increased from 13.32 percent in 2009 to 18.64 percent in 2010, 28.87 percent in 2011 and 36.67 percent in 2012.
Crimes in the Philippines are broken down into index crimes and nonindex crimes.
Index crimes are those having socioeconomic significance and occurring with sufficient regularity to be meaningful. These crimes are against persons and against property. In particular, this category includes murder, physical injury, robbery, theft and rape.
All other crimes are considered nonindex.
In 2010, index crimes totaled 204,979 (86,036 against persons and 118,943 against property). The crimes against persons were broken down into 8,897 murders, 3,726 homicides, 68,538 physical injuries and 4,875 rape incidents. Crimes against property consisted of 36,121 robberies, 72,947 thefts, 8,656 car thefts and 1,219 cattle-rustling incidents.
There were 156,882 index crimes in 2011, which consisted of 59,909 against persons and 96,973 against property. Index crimes against persons included 8,674 murders, 3,404 homicides, 42,984 physical injuries and 4,847 rape incidents.
Crimes against property consisted of 31,037 robberies, 56,349 thefts, 8,715 car thefts and 872 cases of cattle rustling.
In 2012, a total of 129,161 index crimes were reported, with 51,069 against persons and 78,092 against property. There were 8,484 murders, 3,022 homicides, 34,825 physical injuries and 4,738 rape incidents. Crimes against property included 26,988 robberies, 43,606 thefts, 6,919 car thefts and 579 cattle rustling.–Inquirer Research
Sources: nscb.gov.ph, senate.gov.ph