AN OFFICIAL of Police Regional Office (PRO) in Northern Mindanao on said August 3, the monthly crime volume in the region posted a drastic drop of 44 percent compared to the last two years.
Superintendent Surki Sereñas, PRO-Northern Mindanao spokesperson, said the average monthly crime volume is usually pegged at about 3,000 crimes.
Philippine National Police regional command data showed that 3,983 crimes were recorded in July 2014; it dropped to 3,171 crimes in the same period in 2015.
Sereñas said compared to the current monthly crime volume of 1,974 this year, it decreased by 50.44 percent compared to the crime volume of 2014 and 37.75 percent decrease compared to the crime volume of 2015.
"Atong gi-compare ang July nga record from 2014 to 2015 and sa July this year and atong nakita ang significant nga pag-ubos," Sereñas said.
Sereñas said that most of the prevalent crimes like theft, robbery, domestic violence, rape and all forms of abuse were influence by and related to illegal drugs.
"Kasagaran aning mga krimen related sa drugs and nakita man ang hugot nga kampanya sa illegal drugs karon daghan nag-respond sa tokhang and daghan nadakpan so dili nata makurat nga nigamay ang crime volume," Sereñas said.
Sereñas stressed out that the drop of monthly crime volume can be attributed to the relentless efforts of law enforcers to implement the intensified anti-illegal drug campaign of the government which resulted to the diminished presence of illegal drugs in the streets.
"Thus, we are not surprised of the marked decrease in crime volume," Sereñas said.
"We just hope we can sustain this momentum and get the job done within the allotted timeline," Sereñas added.
He said project "Tokhang" (toktok-hangyo or knock and plead) is continuously gaining its momentum as more drug personalities across the region submitted and responded to the anti-illegal drug campaign of the Duterte administration.
He said that law enforcers remain steadfast in running after not only on small drug pushers in the streets but identify the "big fishes" in the illegal drug trade and try them in courts.