LAGAWE, Ifugao June 20 – The Police Regional Office in the Cordillera (PRO-COR) reported that the crime volume in the region from January to May this year dropped by 18.59 percent from 3,847 cases during the same period last year to only 3,132 cases for this year.
The PRO-COR added that index crimes significantly dropped by 44.60 percent from 834 last year to 462 for the reckoning period this year while non-index crimes dipped by 11.38 percent from 3,013 last year to 2,670 this year.
The PRO-COR made the report on the region’s crime situation for the first five months of this year during the second quarter joint meeting of the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR) and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-CA) both hosted by the Ifugao provincial government.
On the crime situation per province, Abra registered a decline of 4.64 percent from 280 cases to 267; Apayao recorded a drop of 6.67 or from 75 cases to 70 cases this year; Baguio City also showed a dip with 7.88 from 1,573 cases to 1,449 cases this year; Benguet registered one of the highest decline at 26.50 percent or 1,196 cases to 879 cases this year; Ifugao reflected a 5.49 percent drop in crimes from 182 cases to 172 cases this year; Kalinga recorded the highest drop in crimes with 51.9 percent or from 418 cases to 201 cases this year and Mountain Province showed a 23.58 percent dip in crimes from 123 cases to 94 cases.
Further, PRO-COR’s crime clearance efficiency for the reckoning period increased by 2.39 percent from 79.67 percent last year to 82.06 percent for the first five months of this year while crime solution efficiency grew by 6.28 percent from 67.92 percent last year to 74.20 percent for the same period this year.
The report stated that vehicular traffic accident accounted for 61percent, non-index crimes comprise 29 percent and index crimes account for 20 percent of the region’s total crime volume.
During the conduct of the May 14, 2018 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, PRO-COR) documented two election-related violence and incidents that resulted to the untimely demise of a barangay kagawad and the wounding of three individuals.
According to the report, the conduct of the synchronized barangay and SK elections was generally peaceful regionwide except for the documented election-related violence and incidents which were eventually turned over to the concerned agencies for proper disposition.
PRO-COR regional director Chief Superintendent Rolando Z. Nana urged police operating units regionwide to exert extra effort to curb the proliferation of untoward incidents that compromise the safety and security of people to guarantee the protection of the residents and their properties from the unscrupulous activities of individuals.
Nana expressed confidence that the improvement of the peace and order situation in the region will be sustained because law enforcers fervently desire to achieve lasting peace in the rural and urban centers around the region.
By Dexter A. See
