Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Crimes in Cebu dropped 22% in 2007
CRIME volume in Cebu for the year 2007 “significantly” dropped by 22 percent compared to the previous year.
Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Carmelo Valmoria told this to members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) during its joint session last Friday.
He described Cebu as “normal and peaceful” and still a safe place to live in.
A total of 3,486 crimes were recorded in 2007 compared to the 4,464 reported in 2006.
“The decrease in index crime has been attributed to the continuous anti-criminality campaign of the police as gleaned from its accomplishment especially on the flagship programs,” read Valmoria’s report presented to the RDC and RPOC.
The average monthly crime rate in 2007 was at 12.2 crimes per 100,000 people every month. The year before showed 17 per month for every 100,000 Cebuanos.
‘Fear of reprisal’
Crime solution efficiency, however, was at 83 percent compared to 87 percent in 2006.
Valmoria defended the decrease stating that it was due to the “non-cooperation of witnesses with the police for fear of reprisal.”
In 2006, 3,869 crimes were solved compared to the 2,890 considered solved in 2007 while taking into consideration that there were less crimes for the latter year.
Unsolved crime in 2006 was recorded at 595. The year after show an increase of one more crime left unsolved.
“Rapid urbanization, urban migration and population density are the dominant factors that considerably affect the crime rate of a particular place,” read Valmoria’s report.
This will explain why Lapu-Lapu City, the most populous area when it was still under the CPPO jurisdiction, had the most number of index crimes reported in Cebu with 482 or 14 percent of the total provincial index crime volume. Index crime is a crime against person or property.
Cebu City and Mandaue City, which have their own police offices, were not included in the tally.
Talisay City ranked second with 344 cases or 10 percent of the total provincial crime volume. It was followed by Danao City with 230 incidents or seven percent.
Carcar City ranked fourth with 111 cases or three percent and Consolacion ranked fifth with 94 incidents, equivalent to 2.6 percent of the total crime in the province.
Toledo City had 74 cases (two percent), Liloan with 31 (0.9 percent), Medellin had 27 (0.8 percent), Ronda with 23 (0.6 percent) and Carmen had 18 (0.5 percent).
Valmoria also categorized his report in terms of days and time wherein a particular incident has been reported the most.
For instance, CPPO recorded the most number of murder, homicide, physical injury and theft cases on a Sunday. Rape usually occur on Tuesdays and Fridays while robbers mostly act on Saturdays.
Meanwhile, murder, physical injury and rape are usually committed between the hours of 6 and 9 p.m. Homicide is prominent between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. while robbery and theft usually take place from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Physical injury topped the list of most common crime in the province with 807 cases reported in 2007. Comparing it with 2006, the 2007 figure is a drop of 37 percent from the 1,279 cases reported in 2006.
It covers 23 percent of the total crime in the province, attributed to vehicular incidents and conflicts while under the influence of liquor.
Theft, robbery
Theft and robbery cases, however, went up. There were 752 theft cases reported in 2006 while 2007 had 764 incidents or an increase of two percent. Only 333 robbery cases were reported in 2006 but these rose 18 percent in 2007 with 392 incidents reported.
“The prevalence of robbery and theft incidents in Cebu Province is due to its geographical location and economic boom being the center of trade and commerce not only in the region, but in the rest of Visayas and Mindanao,” read Valmoria’s assessment of the crime incidence in Cebu.
He explained that people from neighboring provinces would rather come to Cebu for employment, with others resorting to criminal activities.
Other more common crimes in 2007 were murder, rape and homicide.
January 2007 showed the lowest number of crimes due to the augmentation of Philippine National Police personnel in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nation summit. (JGA)
