Crime rate
IN the country, home to more than 110 million Filipinos, the 226,000-member Philippine National Police (PNP) continues its efforts to combat crime and maintain peace and order.
As a result, the crime rate in this poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation of election-crazy people has dropped by 7.84 percent, according to PNP top honcho Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr.
Official records show that from Jan. 1, 2023 to September 15, the national police agency recorded 11,975 fewer crime incidents across the country compared to the same period last year.
The PNP registered year-to-date crime incidents at 140,778, down from 152,753 posted in the same period last year.
We are made to believe that the police’s intensified presence and visibility in crime-prone areas and other public convergence zones in the Philippines also helped in bringing down the crime rate.
The PNP chief and Customs Commissioner Bievenido Y. Rubio, said the drive against illegall drugs, notably shabu, also showed remarkable progress.
Police operatives seized over P7.2 billion worth of prohibited drugs during the conduct of anti-drug operations in various parts of this natural resources-rich country.
Likewise, police operatives arrested 54,653 individuals, including 56 wanted persons with rewards.
At the same time, General Acorda acknowledged that there are still a few rogues in police uniform, who continue to tarnish the image of the national police agency.
However, the police leadership is determined to rid the PNP of scalawags, dead woods and other rotten eggs.
We, thus, urge the Filipino people, including the ordinary citizens, to help the PNP in its internal cleansing program by reporting the nefarious activities of police officers and men.