C. Visayas Police Reports 9.5% Drop in Crimes in July

The Central Visayas Police said in a report that the incidence of crime in the region dropped by 9.5 percent in July, compared to the same month last year.

The total crime volume in the region for July this year fell to 4,264, from 4,711 cases in July 2015, the police report said.

Regional police chief, Supt. Noli Taliño, attributed the decrease to the intensified campaign against all forms of crime, not just illegal drugs.

He however said that the anti-narcotics campaign under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte also caused a decrease in other crimes because “illegal drugs is the mother of all crimes”.

From July 1 until Aug. 22, the anti-illegal drug operations of the Central Visayas Police led to the death of 69 suspected drug pushers.

Taliño said the police is also investigating the killing of 76 alleged drug peddlers by unidentified assailants during the same period.

The report said index crimes such as murder, homicide, theft, robbery, physical injuries and rape in the region decreased by 27.7 percent to 1,220 cases last July from 1,688 cases in the same month last year.

Non-index crimes, such as those against illegal drugs, gambling and loose firearms, increased by less than one percent to 3,044 incidents in July 2016 from the 3,023 recorded in the same month last year.

From January to July this year, the total crime volume in the region dropped by 6.9 percent to 29,302 incidents from 31,482 crimes logged in the same period last year.

Despite the report of killings of drugs suspects, the number of murders dropped by 22 percent, from 341 deaths in January to July 2015, to 266 in the same period this year.

Homicide cases also dropped during the period, from 85 to 59 deaths, or a decrease of about 31 percent. (PNA) CVL/EB/EDS