Cases of robbery and theft across the country went down by 60 percent during the 200-day community quarantine period, the Joint Task Force COVID Shield said Saturday.
It also revealed that crime incidents were reduced by 46 percent nationwide during the same period.
From 5,627 cases during the 200-day period before the quarantine period was implemented, cases of robbery dropped to only 2,073 from March 17 to October 2, according to JTF COVID Shield commander Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar.
Eleazar said there was a 60 percent reduction in theft cases, from 11,653 to 4,690.
Overall, Eleazar said the Philippines recorded a 46 percent decline for the Eight Focus Crimes of the Philippine National Police (PNP) – Murder, Homicide, Physical Injury, Rape, Robbery, Theft, Carnapping of Motorcycles, and Carnapping of Cars.
Based on the JTF COVID data through the PNP, there were a total of 18,683 crimes recorded under the Eight Focus Crime from March 17 to October 2, compared to 34,768 criminal incidents during the 200-day pre-quarantine period.
“Translated to a daily crime average, the Philippines has recorded an average of 93 criminal incidents per day during the 200-day implementation of the community quarantine compared to 174 per day incidents of the 200-day period before the community quarantine implementation,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar said the data in the past 200 days continue to defy expectations and perceptions of a sudden increase in crime, particularly robbery and theft, as the coronavirus pandemic brought loss of livelihood and other economic difficulties.
“While the community quarantine denied criminal elements the usual opportunity to strike, the increased police visibility down to the barangay level is a big factor in reducing criminal incidents across the country,” he said.