MANILA – Lower crime rate has been recorded in the first two years of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s administration, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
Data presented by Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Benjamin Abalos showed the crime rate falling to 15.04 percent in Marcos’ first two years, compared to the 21.92 percent during the first two years of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“(Abalos) pointed out that the peace and order situation improved with a much lower index crime volume from 196,519 — from the pre-pandemic period of July 1, 2016, to April 21, 2018 — to 71,544 from July 1, 2022, to April 21, 2024,” PCO said in a statement.
“Non-index crime volume also decreased from 345,398 from July 1, 2016, to April 21, 2018, to 300,257 from July 1, 2022, to April 21, 2024,” added the PCO.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) also recorded a 98.88 percent total crime clearance efficiency from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
“The PNP recorded 82.69 percent of total crime solution efficiency from January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, which is 0.62 percent higher than the figures reported from October 2021 to December 2022,” added the PCO.
PCO’s statement came a day after the PNP belied a recent United States-based report that extrajudicial killings (EJK) are still prevailing in the country under the Marcos administration.
“Kung titignan po natin ‘yung legal meaning po ng EJK, ang ibig sabihin po nito ay deliberate intent na pagpatay sa isang tao without lawful authority coming from any judicial proceeding na talagang state-sponsored po ito. Wala pong ganun,” said PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo.
According to US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, EJKs remain a serious problem in the Philippines in 2023 and that there were no significant changes in the country’s human rights situation.
“EJKs, largely by police but also by other security forces, remained a serious problem,” stated in a 58-page report. “In addition, politically-motivated killings, including of journalists, were reported during the year.”
Amnesty International Philippines, for its part, claimed that there were 329 individuals killed in 2023, based on data from the University of the Philippines’ Dahas Project, which documents drug-related killings.
The school’s Third World Studies Center, meanwhile, found that 342 individuals were killed from June 2022 to June 2023, making it at least 600 deaths under the Marcos administration.
“Ang sinasabi po nila ay nagtutuloy-tuloy. Pero malinaw po ang sabi ng ating Presidente na lahat po ng kampanya natin against criminality lalong-lalo na po sa illegal drugs ang gusto po niya ay holistic approach po ang gawin natin,” Fajardo said./PN
