CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Ninety-two percent of people in Northern Mindanao feel safe under a recent survey conducted by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) on the safety, respect, and trust index of the Police Regional Office-10.

Ninety-four percent of people in the province of Lanao del Norte said they are safe due to the PRO-10. The provinces of Camiguin, Bukidnon, and Misamis Occidental followed with 93 percent each, Iligan City and Misamis Oriental with 91 percent each, and this city had the lowest rating at 87 percent. 

CARS travel on CM Recto Ave. in Cagayan de Oro City. (Franck Dick Rosete)

Adrian Tamayo, public relations division chief of MinDa, cited several reasons why this city had the lowest rating.

Tamayo said the “nature of crimes” in highly urbanized cities are almost different from provinces due to various activities where people congregate.

He added that it might have a connection to the Marawi City explosion last December, highlighting the city’s security rating at 92 percent, which is substantially higher than its safety rating.

“That’s high because it’s way above the critical value that we imposed (which is) below 80%,” Tamayo said as he stressed that the safety rating of this city is considered high.

ADRIAN Tamayo, public relations division chief of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa), presents the result of the survey on the safety, respect, and trust index of Police Regional Office 10 on February 1. (Franck Dick Rosete)

Police Col. Danilo Bacas, deputy director for administration of the Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao (PRO-10), aired the same view, stressing that the safety rating is based on constituents’ perceptions.

“They saw our policemen in the field, in our roads and streets. They saw many of them. Their feeling about safety actually lessened, considering their anticipation that something might happen,” Bacas said, explaining that they deployed more policemen for visibility during the post-Marawi incident last December.

The PRO-10 had an overall 95 percent satisfactory rating, 94 percent trust, and 93 percent respect and security rating.

Camiguin topped the trust, respect, and security categories at 97 to 98 percent, while the province of Misamis Oriental earned the highest satisfaction rating at 97 percent.

With these numbers, the survey concludes that Northern Mindanao achieved a high satisfactory rating.

MINDA Public Relations Division chief Adrian Tamayo and Police Regional Office-10 Deputy Director for Administration Police Col. Danilo Bacas answer questions from the media during the open forum after the presentation of the survey result on February 1. (Franck Dick Rosete)

Crime-related harms or injuries are declining and the residents’ vigilance in terms of noticing suspicious persons and unattended items is improving.

This is the first survey conducted under the leadership of PRO-10 director Police Brig. Gen. Ricardo Layug Jr. 

The survey was conducted from January 5 to 10 with a sample size of 1,204, a margin of error of three percent, and a confidence interval of 95 percent.

PRO-10 earned a 92 percent trust, respect, and satisfaction rating and 89 percent safety rating during the survey conducted by MinDa from February 1 to 17 last year. This was highlighted by Police Brig. Gen. Lawrence Coop, former PRO-10 director, before he stepped down and retired last October 29.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/10/11/new-northern-mindanao-police-chief-to-focus-on-community-engagement

Tamayo said the survey aims to determine if the people are feeling safe and secure in their areas and how they perceive the services of the police, which are vital to solidifying the idea that Mindanao is a safe place.

He added that 86 percent of respondents said Mindanao is safe according to their third quarter survey. This covered all six regions – Northern Mindanao, the Davao Region, the Caraga region, Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.