ILOILO City – With the crime volume down, Christmas celebrations across Western Visayas were generally peaceful, according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
There were no major incidents since Dec. 16, the start of the nine-day Catholic Church misa de gallo (dawn mass) leading to Christmas Day yesterday, said Superintendent Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson.
The PRO-6 recorded a 12.97 percent decline in crime volume – from 786 crimes in 2017 to 684 this year.
It monitored 106 cases in eight “focus crimes” – murder, homicide, robbery, theft, physical injuries, “motornapping”, “carnapping”, and rape – 32.48 percent lower (or 51 cases) than last year’s 157 cases.
“We hope this trend will continue until the end of this year. We are thankful for the cooperation of the community,” said Malong.
At 33 cases, Iloilo province recorded the most number of incidents followed by Negros Occidental (21). Guimaras province recorded the least number of cases (5).
According to Malong, maximized police presence, information dissemination, “target hardening”, “border control”, and social investigation helped reduce the crime volume on the days leading to Christmas Day.
She stressed the importance of 188 police assistance hubs erected on transport terminals, malls, public markets, commercial areas, parks and community centers, places of worships, and tourist destinations, among others./PN
