CRIME volume in the country has been greatly reduced over the past 63 years as a result of the successful illegal drug operations by the Duterte administration, the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

According to General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, the total crime incidents in the Philippines over the past 63 months or from 2016 to October 2021 dropped 49.6 percent compared to the recorded crime incidents in 2010-2015.

The top cop also said the effects of the successful illegal drugs operations by the Duterte government are already being felt by ordinary Filipinos.

According to him, the successful anti-illegal drugs operations in the past five years already resulted in the unprecedented reduction in crimes in the country.

The PNP has always maintained that most of the crime incidents in the country are related to illegal drugs abuse, a position that was vindicated by the continuous and significant reduction of crime in the country in the last five years.

The top cop also noted that the slump in crime incidents is more prominent in the marked 67.76 percent decline in Index Crime cases recorded over the same 65-month period from July 2016 through September 2021.

Gen. Eleazar said these data are contained in the National Crime Environment Report derived from the Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS), an electronic crime analytic tool that captures blotter entries and incident reports from all PNP units and offices across the country.

A comparative analysis of the 63-month CIRAS data culled during the 2010-2015 and 2016-2021 periods showed the 2.67-million crime incidents reported in 2010-2015 dropping 49.6 percent down to only 1.36-million cases in 2016-2021.

The biggest decline in crime incidents was posted in Mindanao at 53.81 percent. Luzon and Visayas registered a 48.42 percent and 45.30 percent crime reduction respectively.

Overall nationwide, the police solved 38.35 percent more cases in 2016-2021 or a Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) rating of 78.62 percent, compared with the 40.27 percent CSE during the previous 5-year period.

Gen. Eleazar explained that the huge 67.76 percent drop in Index crime represents 784,641 fewer crime cases from 1.15-million index crime incidents in 2010-2015 or during the previous Benigno Aquino administration down to only 373,378 cases in 2016-2021.

The same National Crime Environment Report showed that crime against persons dipped 64.68 percent while crime against property fell 69.91 percent in 2016-2021, he added.

Theft, Physical Injury and Robbery are the three most prevalent crime types common in 2010-2015 and 2016-2021.

Incidents of physical injury showed an 80.13 percent slump while homicide cases decreased 55.31 percent. Moreover, incidents of robbery, theft and carnapping fell by 71.72 percent, 70.85 percent and 55.46 percent respectively.

“All these marked improvement in the overall crime picture translate to better security outlook among our people and further adds to upbeat investor confidence that spur economic growth despite the ongoing health crisis,” Gen. Eleazar said.

Gen. Eleazar and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chair, Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva have maintained they have been going after the so-called ‘big fishes’ in the illegal drug industry as proven by the seizure of over P66 billion worth of prohibited drugs since the Duterte government launched its war on drugs on July 1, 2016.

The confiscation of the illegal drugs that could have really flooded the streets is likewise proof that illegal drugs present a ‘clear and present danger’ to the survival of the country where authorities need to be prepared to respond to armed and dangerous drug traffickers, lest they end up dead just like the dozens of policemen and soldiers who have sacrificed their lives while fighting drug syndicates over the past five years.

Gen. Eleazar said it is a fact that over the past few months, ‘intelligence-driven operations conducted by the PDEA and the PNP specifically the PNP Drug Enforcement Group have resulted in the seizure of multi-billion worth of shabu and the neutralization of dozens of ‘high-value targets.’

Gen. Eleazar maintained that the PDEA-PNP operations against illegal drugs has been a major factor in reducing to at least 64 percent the crime volume in the country, thus making the streets much safer for peace-loving citizens.

Last October 18 alone, a PDEA-led operation in Barangay Pulong Cacutud, Angeles City, Pampanga led to the killing of four armed Chinese nationals. Recovered from the possession of the four were 38 kilograms of high-grade shabu worth P262.2 million and four chamber-loaded caliber .45 pistols.

Last October 17, PDEA officers also arrested an ‘HVT’ in Central Visayas after he sold a kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million to a poseur in Bgy. Kamputhaw in Cebu City.

Last October 16, another PDEA-led operation in Bgy. Salitran 2 in Dasmariñas City, Cavite led to the arrest of two ‘HVT’s from Rodriguez, Rizal who yielded 240 kilos of shabu with a market value of P1.65 billion.

Last October 1, another operation in Bgy. Molino 3 in Bacoor City, Cavite resulted in the arrest of two residents of Dominorig, Talatag, Bukidnon after they conspired to sell 149 kilograms of shabu valued at P1.02 billion to an undercover officer.

Records show that from April 5 to last October 21, 2021, anti-narcotics operations conducted by the PNP-DEG headed by Brigadier Gen. Remus B. Medina resulted in the seizure of nearly 981 kilos of shabu worth nearly P668 million.

The PNP chief cited the ‘whole-of-government approach’ as key factors in the series of anti-narcotics operations in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Cavite which led to the killing of four armed Chinese drug smugglers and two of their Filipino distributors and the arrest of five others, three of them Chinese nationals too last September.

The sting in Bacoor City, Cavite led to the neutralization of four ‘high-value targets’ in the country and the seizure of around 229 kilograms of shabu worth nearly P1.6 billion.

Recovered during the first operation were 181 kilograms of the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine’ worth P1.25 billion, the buy-bust money and firearms used by the suspects in trading shots with officers.

A follow-up operation in Imus City, Cavite led to the arrest of two other suspects and the confiscation of 48 kilograms of shabu worth P331.2 million.

Four of the Chinese nationals were killed in a shootout with members of the PNP-DEG under Brig. Medina while three were arrested. Confiscated from the suspects were a total of 580 kilograms of shabu worth P3.944 billion.