JOINT Task Force COVID Shield personnel from the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Armed Forces and the Bureau of Fire Protection were lauded yesterday for their role in carrying out their job amid the pandemic earning The Philippines a Gallup spot in the Top 50 countries across the world with a very good peace and order environment ideal for retirement and investment.
Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander, Lieutenant General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said policemen, soldiers, firemen and Coast Guard personnel must be lauded for their extra efforts and hard work in strictly implementing quarantine rules that played a key role in further improving the peace and order situation in the country as revealed by the recent Global Law and Order report which showed the Philippines as among the countries with a high index score.
PNP chief, General Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan said the global survey result just echoed the personal safety and security being felt by the Filipinos long before the pandemic.
The PNP chief has ordered police commanders to intensify police visibility down to the barangay level both as an anti-crime strategy and implementation of quarantine rules at the community level.
The two officials likewise expressed confidence that the significant reduction in index crimes in the country recorded during the coronavirus pandemic would further improve the ranking of the Philippines in the Global Law and Order report.
Lt. Gen. Eleazar said that the 2020 Global Law and Order report by United States-based analytics and advisory firm Gallup only mirrored the peace and order situation in the Philippines wherein there was a consistent decline in index crimes nationwide not only in 2019 when the survey was conducted but also since July 2016 when President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency.
Based on the 2020 survey of Gallup which was released last October 27, eight of ten Filipinos it surveyed feel secure in their community which placed the Philippines in the top 50 list worldwide with a score of 84/100. The highest score was Singapore with 97 while Afghanistan got the lowest with 43.
Those who were surveyed in the Philippines also gave positive responses on law enforcement agencies and how they were doing their job in their respective areas.
Gallup’s Global Law and Order report is a worldwide gauge of people’s sense of personal security and their personal experiences with crime and law enforcement. In this year’s report, the Philippines joined Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Serbia which also got an 84 score.
“With the dedication and hard work of all policemen, soldiers, firemen and Coast Guard in strictly implementing quarantine rules that played a key role in further improving the peace and order situation nationwide, we are confident that we would further improve in the next survey,” said Eleazar.
“The Filipino people themselves have witnessed the sacrifices of our personnel in ensuring that they are both safe from criminal elements and the coronavirus infection,” he added.
Based on the latest crime data of the PNP on Eight Focus Crimes, there was a 46 percent reduction in index crime nationwide during the 226-day community quarantine period (March 17 to October 28, 2020) with 21,729 crimes compared to 39,920 during the same period before the community quarantine (August 4, 2019 to March 16, 2020), or a daily average of 96 cases per day during the quarantine period from 177 cases per day before the quarantine period.
The Eight Focus Crimes serves as the PNP’s barometer of peace and order situation in the Philippines. The Eight Focus Crimes are Murder, Homicide, Physical Injury, Rape, Robbery, Theft and Carnapping of Motorcycles and Carnapping of Motor Vehicles.
“I would like to emphasize that the pre-quarantine period crime data was already decreasing as part of the consistent decline since July 2016. And we were able to further reduce the already declining criminal incidents during the quarantine period,” said Eleazar.
The official explained that the country’s peace and order situation is expected to improve with the order of Gen. Cascolan to intensify police visibility down to the barangay level both as an anti-crime strategy and implementation of the quarantine rules at the community level vis-à-vis its continuing war on drugs which the PNP says is one of the major roots of criminal activities.
During the first 42 months of the administration of President Duterte, the PNP noted a 62 percent reduction of index crimes compared to the last 42 months of the past administration, or from 900,200 cases from January 2013 to June 2016 to only 341,232 cases from July 2016 to December 2019.
This is translated to a daily average of 706 cases during the last 42 months of the past administration to only 267 daily average under the Duterte administration.
In Metro Manila, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) recorded a 62 percent decrease in index crime during the same 42-month period, or from 143,643 cases of Eight Focus Crimes to only 54,977—or from 113 cases daily to only 43 cases per day.
From 2017 to 2018, the Philippines scored 82/100 in Gallup’s Global Law and Order report— which were also consistent with the start of significant decline of nationwide index crimes in 2016. Last year, it improved to a score of 84 which was retained this year.
Gallup used four questions to measure the people’s sense of personal security and their personal experiences with crime and law enforcement:
1. In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the police force?
2. Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
3. Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
4. Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?
“This is proof that the improved peace and order situation in the country is not only on numbers but is also being felt by the people we serve. The consistent reduction in nationwide index crime is a reflection that indeed, our kababayans now feel safer on the streets, in their community and even inside their homes,” said Eleazar.
