City police authorities said that crimes are in a down trend during the conduct of the activities that had been lined up by organizers for the month-long Panagbenga based on pre and post-pandemic data.
Police Col. Francisco Bulwayan, Jr., City Director of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), said that there is yet no data that will compare the crimes being committed during the Panagbenga after the COVID-19 pandemic because it was only last year that there was a full blown conduct of the traditional flower festival events, thus, the nearest comparison of the crimes is in 2019 or prior to the pandemic.
Based on the 2019 data obtained from the BCPO, there were 27 crimes against properties and 16 crimes against persons that were committed during the duration of the conduct of the flower festival.
However, in 2023, there were only 19 crimes against properties and 10 crimes against persons that were recorded by the BCPO during the similar duration of the Panagbenga.
The BCPO official claimed that most of the crimes against persons that were committed were physical injuries while 90 percent of the crimes against properties were shoplifting.
According to him, the BCPO is continuously conducting a study on the trend of crimes during the Panagbenga that is why whatever data that will be obtained during this year will form part of the ones that will be analyzed by the BCPO in the coming years to come out with a concrete conclusion on the matter.
He advised residents and tourists who will be going to crowded places during the festival events to make sure that their personal belongings are properly secured or for them not to bring with them huge amounts of cash or jewelries to avoid the occurrence of incidents that may result to the loss of their belongings.
The police official stipulated that there is a sufficient number of law enforcers and force multipliers who are deployed in strategic areas around the city to ensure law and order, especially during the conduct of major crowd drawing events, to manage the traffic and control the influx of the crowd. By Dexter A. See
