(Eagle News) – Philippine officials noted a sharp drop in crimes since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in mid-March compared to period before lockdown.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said that the crime incidents this lockdown period went down by 47 percent compared to the pre-COVID-19 lockdown time.
Año said that there were only 16,879 crime incidents in the country since March 17 this year.
“Ang ibig pong sabihin ay 47 percent reduction po ng crime volume: from 172 cases a day noon pong bago mag-lockdown, naging 92 cases per day,” he said in a report to President Rodrigo Duterte during a meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) in Davao City on Monday night, Sept. 21.
The Department of Interior and Local Government chief said that robbery went down by 61 percent; carnapping or car theft by 66 percent; motorcycle theft by 61 percent; murder by 22 percent; and rape cases by 24 percent.
Año noted that there is a general downtrend in crimes during the Duterte administration.
“Mula naman po ng inyo pong pag-upo ay talagang tuloy-tuloy po ‘yung pagbaba ng crime volume at ito po ay itutuloy-tuloy po namin para sigurado po ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan,” he said.
He also explained the best practices that should be continued so that the crime rate would continue the down trend.
These best practices include increased police visibility, especially of beat patrols; coordination with local government units, including barangays and the community; and faster reaction time.
He also noted that there has been no looting incidents in the country amid the lockdown, unlike in other countries where these have been reported.
“At kumpara po sa ibang bansa, wala pong naganap na anumang looting dito sa ating bayan o sa Pilipinas noong tayo po’y nagkaroon ng lockdown,” Año said.
(Eagle News Service)
