THE number of Filipino families who have been victimized by several crimes in the past six months has risen to 7.6 percent or an estimated 1.8 million, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The poll, conducted from December 16 to 19, revealed that the families who have fallen victims to common crimes increased by 1.5 percentage points from September 2018's 6.1 percent or an estimated 1.4 million.

It was also the highest since the 7.6 percent or 1.7 million reported in December 2017.

The survey found that 6.9 percent or 1.6 million Filipino families were victimized by street robbery, burglary, and car theft, up by 1.3 percentage points than 5.6 percent or an estimated 1.3 million registered in September 2018.

Some 2.8 percent or 655,000 families were victims by burglary (higher than September 2018’s two percent or 474,000); 0.1 percent or 9,000 by carnapping (lower than September 2018's 0.6 percent or 50,000); and 5.2 percent or 1.2 million by street robbery (up from September 2018’s 4.6 percent or 1.1 million).

The survey also found that about 1.3 percent or 303,000 families were hurt by physical violence within the past six months, up by 0.6 percentage point from 0.7 percent or 159,000 families in September 2018 and the highest since the 1.6 percent in March 2013.

The SWS noted that 61 percent of adult Filipinos feared that robbers might break into their homes, nine percentage points above the 52 percent posted in December 2018 and the highest since the 63 percent recorded in December 2016.

Around 54 percent were afraid to walk in unsafe streets at night, up by eight percentage points from September 2018’s 46 percent and also the highest since December 2016's 54 percent.

The survey bared that 39 percent expressed fear over the presence of reported drug addicts in their respective areas, two percentage points below the 41 percent in June and September 2018.

The SWS interviewed 1,440 adult respondents, using sampling error margins of ±2.6 percentage points for national percentages, and ±5 percentage points each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. (SunStar Philippines)