THE Police Regional Office III (PRO-Central Luzon) has reported a decrease of almost 39 percent in the crime volume in the region since the start of the enhanced community quarantine on March 17 until the implementation of general community quarantine on June 10.
Brigadier General Rhodel Sermonia, director of the Philippine National Police in Central Luzon, said a total of 7,887 crimes were recorded during the 85 days of lockdown.
The number is 38.95 percent lower than the 12,918 crimes recorded in the region in the same period last year, Sermonia said.
During the said period, Sermonia said 2,000 persons were arrested by the regional police for illegal drug-related cases.
The arrest of the drug suspects also resulted in the confiscation of 760,289.91 grams of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu amounting to about P5.1 billion and 2,051.72 grams of suspected marijuana with an estimated street value of P153,000.
Some 2,140 were also apprehended for illegal gambling and bets amounting to P537,063 were confiscated while 43 most wanted persons and 596 wanted persons were arrested regionwide.
Sermonia credited the accomplishment to the continuous anti-crime operation conducted by regional police despite their additional duties in line with the enforcement of community quarantines.
“This only goes to show that amidst the enormous tasks being performed by our men on the ground, we continue to level-up our anti-criminality measures particularly on our anti-drug campaign along with the continuous strengthening of our police-community relations. There is indeed a relationship between the involvement of the community and crime reduction. Through our relentless community policing, there has been a notable crime reduction,” he said.
Sermonia warned criminal personalities of the continuous crackdown against any form of lawlessness in the region.
“We will have no let-up on our crackdown on all forms of lawlessness amidst the lockdown as we continue to intensify our anti-criminality campaign through our enhanced focused police operations,” he said.