THE Police Regional Office in Davao Region (PRO-Davao) reported a notable decrease in crime incidents across the region for the first half of 2025, citing a significant drop in rape cases as a major contributor to the improved peace and development situation.
Police Major Catherine Dela Rey, during the Davao Peace and Security press briefing on Wednesday, July 2, revealed that incidents tied to the region’s “8 focus crimes” dropped from 770 in 2024 to 659 between January 1 to June 15, 2025 ― a reduction of 111 cases.
The “8 focus crimes” include murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, carnapping, and motorcycle theft.
Among these, rape cases showed the most significant decline ― plummeting by 118 incidents, or 42.6%, from 277 in 2024 to 159 this year. Murder cases also dropped from 109 to 82.
Dela Rey emphasized that the decrease in rape cases is greatly attributed to their Information Education Campaign, where Dabawenyos, particularly women, are already aware of the things to do to avoid being a victim of rape.
However, Dela Rey noted a slight increase in theft, rising from 156 to 187 cases.
She cited economic pressure as likely, many theft incidents reportedly occurring in malls.
She also appealed to business owners to consider filing formal complaints rather than setting cases internally.
“Maong amoa na’ng gina [awhag] unta nga ilaha unta’ng iduso nga file-lan og case pero kasagaran man gud sa mga malls dili sila ga-file og case. Pamultahon lang nila, so mubalik lang gihapon (That’s why we’re [urging] business owners to file a case, because most of the time, they don’t file a case, they just fine them, so thieves just go back anyway),” she said.
Also, she said that although the Crime Clearance Efficiency dropped by 7.73%, the crime solution efficiency increased by 7.5%.
Dela Rey credited the downward trend to the intensified anti-crime campaigns and stronger community-police collaboration throughout the region. PIA DAVAO