THE Philippine National Police (PNP) headed by General Dionardo B. Carlos has further boosted its ‘move and communicate’ capabilities thru the acquisition of some P576 million worth of brand-new sea and land vehicles and radio equipment needed to fight criminality and terrorism and respond to different emergencies under the new normal.

The force is also enhancing its ‘shoot and investigate’ capabilities by acquiring more firearms and investigation tools for its men as they try to further reduce the eight focus crimes in Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

Last week, Gen. Carlos led the blessing and unveiling of P576,667,540 million worth of brand-new sea, land and mobile assets and communication equipment they procured, during simple ceremonies at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame.

“The PNP is grateful to President Rodrigo R. Duterte and the national government for the gesture of genuine responsiveness to the operational needs of the PNP to perform our law enforcement and public safety mission. We can only reciprocate our gratitude through better police service to the people,” Gen. Carlos said.

Among the latest addition to the PNP fleet of seacraft are 10 police High-speed Tactical Watercraft powered by triple-250 horsepower engines. The new seacraft will beef up the fleet of police gunboats being used by the PNP Maritime Group and the PNP Special Action Force for seaborne police operations and preventive patrol along the country’s 36,000 kilometer shoreline and coastal borders.

Also acquired by the force were 34 six-wheel utility trucks, 123 4×2 patrol vehicles, 170 low-band VHF tactical radio sets, and 1,628 handheld Digital Mobile Radio transceivers.

Gen. Carlos said the latest procurement program for the new equipment was administered by the PNP Bids and Awards Committee chaired by PNP Director for Comptrollership, Major Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.

The procurement program was funded from the PNP Capability Enhancement Program (CEP) for 2020 and 2021.

“These vehicles and communication equipment make up the backbone of police operations that are expected to further boost police patrol and visibility in land and sea environment to meet requirements for greater police presence in communities under heightened COVID Alert levels; and to support KASIMBAYANAN SAFE initiatives for the forthcoming 2022 elections,” Gen. Carlos said.

“Especially with more communication equipment available, we can now swiftly provide immediate rapid reaction to calls for police assistance and emergency response,” he added.

The new police equipment will fill up the requirement of different police regional offices and national support units led by the Maritime Group and the PNP-SAF as the PNP leadership embarks on a massive capacity-building and modernization program for the police force.

The new equipment are expected to greatly improve the PNP’s effort to keep crime down at a record level specifically during the election period. The PNP has launched a massive security program to ensure safe, secure and orderly May 9 national and local elections.

In 2021, the PNP recorded a significant 14 percent drop in all major crimes in the country in 2021 consistent with the downtrend in the total crime volume nationwide since the start of the Duterte administration and its war on drugs, Gen. Carlos said.

The top cop took note of the prevailing crime trend as recorded in the Crime Environment Report presented by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management during their recent command conference at Camp Crame.

The PNP-DIDM headed by Major Gen. Omega Jireh D. Fidel reported that from 43,696 incidents in 2020, crime incidents dipped to only 37,626 or 6,070 fewer incidents in 2021, or a 13.89 percent reduction.

The same report indicated single and double digit decline in all eight focus crimes between 2020 and 2021 with physical injury posting the biggest decline at 33.20 percent, homicide incidents dropping 19.53 percent, and motorcycle theft down by 15.29 percent.

Although incidents of theft posted the highest volume among the eight focus crimes, it slid 5.26 percent further from 12,130 in 2020 to only 11,492 incidents in 2021.

The crime trend between 2020-2021 showed the latter part of the six-year continuing downtrend of focus crimes recorded in the Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS) of the PNP, the PNP-DIDM said.

The report said there is downtrend of focus crimes from a high of 131,685 cases in 2016 to only 37,626 incidents in 2021 or a 71.42 percent drop over the six-year period, Gen. Carlos noted.

The PNP chief said the 2020-2021 crime trend reduction was the result of their intensified implementation of the PNP Enhanced Managing Police Operations (EMPO) during the onset of the national health emergency in early 2020.

The EMPO’s intensified implementation during the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic was started by Gen. Archie Francisco F. Gamboa towards the closing months of 2020, the two months under Gen. Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan, the first five months of 2021 under Gen. Debold M. Sinas and further sustained through 2021 by the force under Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar who was replaced by Gen. Carlos last November 13.

“What this crime trend indicates is the significant result of the continuity of implementation of the overall strategy and operational thrust on anti-criminality which the PNP is sustaining in the opening weeks of year 2022 under my watch,” Gen. Carlos said.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. also recorded a 17 percent decline in major street crimes in Metro Manila over the past 14 months earning them commendations from Gen. Carlos who also challenged them to continue their anti-criminality gains this year.

“These forms of criminality saw a significant drop because of the partnership that our police personnel built with the communities. The locals learned to be more proactive in reporting potential threats so they can be suppressed even before a crime can happen,” Gen. Carlos said as he called on the Metro Manila police force and the rest of the police forces nationwide to maintain their effective anti-criminality strategies amid the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latest NCR crime statistics showed a sharp decline in focus crimes from November 10, 2020 to last January 23, or a total of 109,079 crimes or a 16.9 percent drop from the 131,230 incidents recorded during the September 5, 2019 to November 9, 2020 period.

The focus crimes include homicide, rape, physical injury, robbery, theft, motor vehicle theft and motorcycle theft.

Among these incidents, cases of physical injuries posted the biggest reduction of 42 percent from 1,934 to 934; robbery with a 22 percent drop or from 2,053 to 1,603 incidents; theft with a 16 percent decrease or from 4,494 to 3,756.

Cases of motorcycle theft also went down by by 25 percent from 836 to 625, murder by 24 percent from 802 to 611, rape by six percent from 1,315 to 1,241, homicide by 21 percent from 221 to 175 and carnapping of motor vehicle by 16 percent from 172 to 144.

Maj. Gen. Danao attributed the downtrend to the trust and confidence of the public through their support and cooperation on the programs of the PNP particularly in the fight against all forms of criminality.