By Christine Cudis/PNA
MANILA — As government has been relentless in its campaign against illegal drugs, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has noted the continued drop of crime rate as indicative of a successful anti-illegal drug operation.
In a Real Numbers press conference on Wednesday, PNP deputy spokesperson, Lt. Col Kimberly Molitas, reported that authorities are winning the war for the Filipino people.
“[It is] important to note that focus crimes are due to the use of illegal drugs. If you look at the nature [of the crimes], the perpetrators are doing drugs. They resort to theft to support their addiction, they rape, murder because they are tripping,” Molitas said in an interview after the briefing.
A total of 1,040,987 crimes were reported from July 2016 to June 2018, lower than the 1,325,789 cases reported during the same period in 2014 to 2016, or a 21.48 percent drop.
Crimes against persons like homicide, physical injuries, and rape also went down, except for murder which saw an increase of 19,210 or 1.5 percent during the last two years.
Molitas said the war on drugs is far from over, but the interagency task force publishes daily reports of its progress.
“We put an effort to make sure that the campaign against illegal drugs is sustained. Hindi po yan nagbabago, bumababa po yan ng bumababa (It is consistent, the numbers are dropping each year),” she said.
With the minimal number of crimes, the PNP also reported that the benefits that the Philippine economy reaps from their efforts.
“In the business sector, they feel safer and better now. It is one of the indications that the war on drugs is nearly over but the problem is still there. War on drugs is a worldwide phenomenon addressed by ASEAN countries, it is not just us,” she added.
