The Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental has reported a decline in the number of index crimes for the second half of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015.
PNP acting provincial director Sr. Supt. Henry Biñas disclosed Thursday the drop in index crimes is largely attributed to the massive war against illegal drugs waged by President Duterte since July of last year.
Records at the Negros Oriental PNP Provincial Office show that from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2016, the total decline in index crimes was pegged at 16.6 percent.
Except for rape and homicide cases that saw an increase last year, cases on carnapping, cattlerustling, motornapping, murder, robbery, physical injuries and theft all went down.
Homicide marked an increase of 47.62 percent for the second half of last year, with 31 cases recorded versus 21 cases in the previous year.
Rape, meanwhile, also went up from 64 cases to 74 cases or a 15.65 percent hike.
Theft topped with the highest number of cases with 699 in the last two quarters of 2015 but the number dropped to 586 for the same period in 2016.
For the same period, physical injuries dropped from 360 to 344 cases; robbery from 290 to 196 cases; murder from 93 to 69 cases; motornapping from 78 to 51 cases; cattle rustling from 24 to 10 cases; and carnapping from two cases to only one.
Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, in a press conference Thursday afternoon, announced that the recently re-activated Task Force Leon Kilat is not only focused on running after extremist and other terror threat groups but to also help fight all forms of criminality in the province.
Task Force Leon Kilat is a composite team of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Coast Guard, the Maritime Police and other government agencies that was recently strengthened because of the threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf in Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental and other parts of the Visayas. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
