The crime index in Northern Mindanao for the first quarter of 2023 has dropped by 9.64 percent compared to the same period last year, Philippine National Police Region 10 director PBgen. Lawrence Coop said.
The Eight Focus Crimes include homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, vehicle theft, motorcycle theft, and rape.
In a statement released on April 20, 2023, Coop said that out of 478 crimes committed, 92% are already cleared and 62.55% are already solved.
For the PNP, “cleared” means a case has been filed in court, at least one suspect has been identified, but none have been captured yet. “Solved”, meanwhile, means a case has been filed in court, and that at least one suspect has been arrested. When a case is counted as solved, it is also already counted as cleared by the PNP.
“We can see that more than 90% of the total number of crimes have been filed and we are still continuing to investigate the cases and arrest the at-large suspects,” Coop said.
In the same period, Police Regional Office (PRO-10) conducted a total of 633 operations against illegal drugs, arrested 742 drug suspects, and confiscated a total of 2,057.602 grams of shabu and 5,095.53 grams of marijuana with an estimated Standard Drug Price of P13,795,197.43.
Coop highlighted the achievement of PRO-10 in the campaign against illegal drugs which he attributed to the success of its law enforcement operation.
“For March 2023 alone, In the campaign against illegal drugs, this PRO conducted a total of 212 operations that resulted in the arrest of 225 drug personalities, confiscation of 701.699 grams of shabu with an estimated Standard Drug Price of P4.771 million, and 18.600 grams of marijuana with an estimated Standard Drug Price of P2,232.00,” Coop said.
Coop pointed out that on the implementation of the campaign against loose firearms, 30 persons were arrested, 101 firearms were either confiscated or surrendered or recovered and 67 various firearms were turned in for safekeeping during the implementation of Oplan Katok.
The regional police also arrested 84 most wanted persons without reward, and 340 wanted persons were arrested.
Coop added that it dismantled criminal gangs, most notably the Acuman Criminal Gang which surrendered with three firearms of which two were light weapons and one small arm.
“For the period covered, the government’s offensive efforts against the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) were sustained as manifested by nine arrests, and 11 surrendered with one firearm,” Coop said.
“Our collective efforts and unyielding support are the reason why we achieved these accomplishments. The PNP, together with other agencies, nongovernment organizations, and the local community, will support hand-in-hand in making the region a peaceful and drug-free community,” Coop added.
