ILOILO CITY — Crimes in the Western Visayas region decreased by 7.2 percent in the first five months of this year.
CAMP Delgado, headquarters of the Police Regional Office-6 based in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
The Police Regional Office-6 logged 4,820 crime incidents from January to May, 374 lower than the 5,194 in the same period last year.
“The downtrend of our recorded crimes in the region is the fruit of police labor. This is the product of maximizing personnel on the streets and deploying them in strategic areas,” said PRO-6 Director Police Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky.
Wanky said the number of eight focused crimes went down 19.97 percent -- murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, carnapping of motor vehicle, and carnapping of motorcycle.
Only 958 incidents were recorded compared to the 1,197 from January to May last year.
Police Lt. Col. Arnel Solis, PRO-6 chief information officer, said non-index crimes such as illegal drugs and gambling decreased by 3.38 percent.
There were 3,857 incidents from January to May, 135 fewer than the 3, 992 in the same period last year.
The PRO-6 thanked stakeholders such as local government units (LGUs), force multipliers, and advocacy support groups for helping them keep peace and order in the region.