Major crimes down amid crackdown on criminals–PNP
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) has recorded a significant reduction in nearly all major crimes in the country in 2024 amid the stepped-up crackdown on drugs and other forms of criminality in the streets which PNP chief General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil intends to pursue with more vigor this New Year.
The PNP chief is expected to meet anew all the 17 Police Regional Office directors and the heads of the different National Operational and Administrative Support Units to assess how the PNP fared in 2024 particularly when it comes to the security and crime situation while they are looking ahead at better prospects for the organization in 2025.
The focused law enforcement operations ordered by Gen. Marbil refers to the implementation and enforcement of applicable laws; aggressive operations against suspected terror groups and criminal gangs; manhunt operations against wanted persons; immediate resolution of cases specifically those involving firearms; and the conduct of Oplan Sita, Oplan Baka, Oplan Galugad, Oplan Katok, service of warrant of arrest and search warrants and other police interventions.
The country’s total crime volume significantly went down by more than eight percent this year compared to the 2023 figures amid the PNP’s resolve to fully maintain peace and order nationwide, the Journal Group learned.
Marbil said that the Peace and Order Indicator (POI) shows a significant reduction in the number of crimes in 2024 with 183,467 incidents recorded compared to the 190,771 cases in 2023.
“This reduction of 3.83 percent fairly indicates an overall improvement in the peace and order situation compared to the previous year,” Gen. Marbil said.
The PNP chief said that the POI comprised 81.01 percent Non-Index Crimes and 18.99 percent Index Crimes during the current period.
He explained that the Index Crime Volume from January 1 to November 30, 2024 showed a reduction of 3,563 incidents from 38,404 cases in the same period in 2023 to 34,841 this year or a 9.28 percent decrease.
Gen. Marbil said that major contributory factors to the decrease in index crimes is the decline in the number of theft incidents at 2.80 percent and robbery cases at 14.46 percent, all of which were attributed to the downloading of PNP personnel from the headquarters to police stations to boos police presence in the streets.
He also attributed the 26.99 percent decrease in rape cases to the proactive Gender-Based Violence Prevention Programs and advocacies of the PNP including a massive public awareness campaign and distribution in Information/Education Materials; infomercials on the PNP Women and Children Protection Center’s Facebook Page and the continuous PNP capacity-building program for their personnel.
The PNP leadership reported that during the period, police conducted a total of 145 operations against suspects involved in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children compared to the 100 it conducted in 2023.
Gen. Marbil said that the PNP conducted 45 more operations against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children this year mainly because of the various programs of the PNP-WCPC headed by Brigadier Gen. Portia B. Manalad which focuses on victim empowerment such as the Aleng Pulis Helpline and online reporting through the PNP social media pages.
Last year, police conducted 43,519 anti-narcotics operations which led to the arrest of 55,448 suspects and the recovery of around P10.178 billion worth of illegal drugs.
Gen. Marbil also reported a 1,705 percent increase in the arrest of MWPs without reward and the arrest of 2,392 Other Wanted Persons.
In the campaign against loose firearms, the PNP chief said they conducted more that 5 million checkpoints, Oplan Sita/Bakal and other police operations in 2024 which resulted in the arrest of 8,628 persons and the confiscation of 25,240 illegal guns.
A total of 6,687 cases for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013 have been filed against the accused.
