What crime wave? PNP lets stats do the talking

Let the figures speak for themselves.

The Philippine National Police on Wednesday parried criticisms that Metro Manila’s peace and order situation had been deteriorating, saying crime incidence in the capital actually dropped by 60 percent in the first month of the 2013 compared to the same period last year.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said a total of 1,218 index crimes were recorded in the metropolis in January, lower by 59.68 percent from the 3,021 index crimes reported during the same month in 2012.

Index crimes refer to cases of car theft, murder, homicide, physical injuries, rape, robbery and theft.

“With these statistics, we would like to assure the public that there is no crime wave or upsurge in criminal incidence in the country, particularly in the National Capital Region,” Cerbo told reporters.

“Although there is a decrease in crimes, we are still concerned with the robbery at SM Megamall (in Mandaluyong City) and at a remittance center in Parañaque City. That’s why the PNP is closely monitoring these cases. We are trying our best to prevent these crimes,” he said, referring to the two high-profile attacks last month.

The PNP official attributed the drop in index crimes to the implementation of the election gun ban that began last month and the PNP’s checkpoint operations that will enforce the ban for five months.

Director Leonardo Espina, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), agreed that the gun ban and the checkpoints prevented an “unquantifiable number of crimes.”

The PNP said 32 murder cases were reported in the NCR last month, 61-percent less than the 81 cases in January 2012. Robbery and theft cases in dropped by 59 percent, from 1,824 cases last year to 746 this year.

A total of 100 car thefts were reported last month, a decrease of about 51 percent from the 202 cases of stolen vehicles in January last year.