PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Thursday announced a steady decline in the volume of crime in the Philippines since 2010 as he dismissed reports of a growing crime wave in the country.

“PNP crime data shows a steady decline in crime trends over a 12-year period since 2010,” the top cop said citing official records from the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management

Azurin said an analysis of the crime trend since 2010 shows that it is apparent that the Peace and Order Indicator (POI) or the sum of Index and Non-Index Crimes in the country has been decreasing since the administration of the late President Benigno S. Aquino III.

He added that they have noted a 5.85 percent reduction in the crime volume during the previous Duterte administration compared to the Aquino presidency.

Azurin said they have established a 45.24 percent reduction in the crime volume during the first 50-days of the Marcos administration compared to the same period under the Duterte presidency.

Crime data showed that Index Crimes or cases of murder, homicide, physical injury, theft, robbery, rape and car theft have been decreasing since the Aquino administration to date.

He said that they recorded a 45.80 percent reduction in index crimes during the previous Duterte administration compared to that recorded during Aquino’s term.

There has been a recorded 72.45 percent reduction in the number of index crimes during the 1st one month and 20 days of the Marcos presidency compared to the same period under the Duterte administration.

Records showed that during the 1st 50-days of the Marcos administration, the PNP registered a total of 27,299 POIs composed of 5,037 index crimes and 22,262 non-index crimes.

Top 3 highest among the index crimes recorded so far under the Marcos administration are the following: 11,723 cases of theft; 799 rape cases; and 719 incidents of robbery.

On the other hand, crimes against property were found to be notably higher compared to crimes against person with 2,942 and 2,055 cases respectively.

Azurin said they are trying to better address these incidents by greatly improving their visibility on the streets and going all-out in the campaign against drugs, wanted persons and loose firearms and other deadly weapons that could be used to commit violence.

“Lately we have noted what seemed like a sensational surge in social media reporting of some crime incidents, many of which were previously reported cases that had been categorized as solved by PNP units. Other purported crime incidents posted on social media turned out to be either rehashed or completely false information,” Gen. Azurin said.

“The PNP would like do our part in educating our people to be more discerning of the true situation, particularly on crime matters, and be able to distinguish between crime hike and crime hype,” he added.