If the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is to be believed, “more than half” has been deducted from the Philippine crime rate since President Rodrigo Duterte took office from 2016 to 2021.
This was stated by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, Monday, in President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent speech to the state media.
“‘Pag titingnan po natin ang comparison mula po noong 2016 hanggang 2021, nakikita po natin na bumaba ng 73.76% ang crime rate. Ang mga taong ito po, Mr. President, ay saklaw po ng inyong panahon ng panunungkulan,” said Año.
“Kaya’t patuloy itong mas naging ligtas sa ating mga komunidad sa tulong ng inyong programa kontra kriminalidad. So ito pong figure na ‘to makikita natin na mula 131,699, pagdating po ng 2021 ay 34,552 na lamang ang index crimes.”
The data is said to come from a report by the Philippine National Police (PNP), which has noticed a decrease in the total number of crime incidents.
It will also be noted that there is a decrease of 3.66% from total crime incidents compared to 2020 with the recent 2021, where out of 374,277, only 360,573 crimes have been recorded.
The data for 2020 and 2021 occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the government implemented left and right lockdowns and controlled the entry and exit of people from their homes.
DILG boasts 73.7% ‘crime reduction’ in Duterte’s first 5 years
It also enforced strict travel controls and limited the activities that could be done from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Año added that the decline in the number of heinous crimes that often occur, known as “index crimes,” will also be noticeable.
Index crimes include murder, homicide, rape, robbery, carnapping, physical injuries, and eight special complex crimes.
“So ito pong figure na ‘to makikita natin na mula 131,699, pagdating po ng 2021 ay 34,552 na lamang ang index crimes,” said DILG official.
“Sa kabilang side naman po, itong peace and order indicator, ito po ‘yung pinagsama natin ng index crime at saka non-index crime. So makikita po natin sa peace and order indicator na kung saan ay bumaba po ng 5.69% noong 2021 kumpara sa 2020.”
If the period from Duterte’s inauguration until 2021 is added up, the peace and order indicator has dropped by 37%-from 377,766 to 211,237.