THE other day, President Benigno Aquino 3rd proudly claimed at a formal affair in Intramuros that crime in our country has declined substantially.

The event was the 20th anniversary of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO), headed by anti-crime crusader Teresita Ang See, who has been, like Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), has been critical of the government for falling short of its duty to establish peace and order and ensure the safety of the citizenry.

While admitting that the statistics he was dishing out in his speech would probably not be acceptable to Ms. Ang See and other critics of his administration’s anti-crime performance, the President nevertheless claimed that there has been a 10 percent decline in crimes throughout the country in 2011 and 2012.

In KFR (kidnap for ransom cases)—about which Ms. Ang See and Dante Jimenez were strident government critics for more than a decade, and happy only with the work done by former PNP chief now Senator Panfilo Lacson—President Aquino said the decline was an impressive figure. KFR cases in 2011 were 25. There were only 11 in 2012.

It is well-known, h0wever, that the Filipino-Chinese families often do not report kidnappings. Their reluctance stems from their belief, we think it is well-founded, that members of the police are in collusion with kidnappers. Worse, the public also think police officers are partners in crime of drug lords and illegal gambling operators.

The President reported that KFR by terrorists also declined. There were only five cases in 2012 while there were 25 in 2009 (which was before he replaced Mrs. Gloria M. Arroyo). In Mindanao, he said, KFR went down to just five cases in 2012 while there were 10 in 2011. He credited this achievement to good work by the law-enforcers and the successful efforts to promote community awareness and cooperation with the authorities.

President Aquino also reported that the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the PNP had arrested 29 individuals accused of kidnapping in 2012 and their cases are now in the courts.

He said, “The AKG also continues to solve kidnapping cases, through a three-pronged strategy: intelligence gathering and community awareness campaigns, tactical and strategic management of incidents, and the enhancement of investigation capabilities.”

Increase of crimes in Metro Manila
President Aquino did admit that while nationally crime incidence has declined, in Metro Manila it has increased.

He then promised to get his administration’s crime fighters and law-enforcers to do a better job of doing the Herculean task of making our country crime-free.

In his review of crime statistics, the President spoke of crime reduction in 2010 (the year he took office) over 2009 (when the president was Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). He said organized crime groups perpetrated 35 major cases but only 21 cases in 2010, subsequently going down even more to 11 in 2011 and to only six in 2012.

Are the PNP statistics reliable, though?

The report “Policemen hide real crime rate” that we published on Page 1 yesterday, however, suggests that PNP statistics given to the President may not be the truth.

Datelined Benguet, the report by our Correspondent Larry Madarang, states that to project an environment of relative peace and order, “many unscrupulous police commanders have devised an ingenious but wicked scheme to drastically reduce crime incidents in their areas—by not reporting them at all.”

No less than Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, regional director of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera, has revealed that in his jurisdiction alone, several police offices had not been honest in reporting crime.

“It was found that there are police offices that maintain two blotters, one for the public to see and a confidential blotter that is used in their reporting to the higher headquarters and local government,” Magalong said.

The police blotter, he said, which reflects the daily activities and the crime incidents reported and attended to by the local police, is used as a basis in the computation and reporting of crime incidents.

“This confidential blotter accordingly did not reflect all the crime incidents, which was reason why the statistics were low,” Magalong explained.

“To see a decrease in the crime statistics is good but to report a decrease, which is not the real situation is a different matter as it does not reflect the true situation, preventing appropriate action and intervention to be undertaken,” he added.

Magalong could not say whether the illegal practice is prevalent in other regions.

3,000 cases missing
Magalong disclosed that in the Cordillera region alone, there were inconsistencies in the 2011 crime statistics. He said that some 3,000 incidents were missing, or have gone unreported from January to May 2012.

He said 2,000 of the unreported or missing cases were in Baguio City. Several police officers are now in hot water and are facing sanctions for this infraction.

“Accurate reporting of crime incidents makes the programs of the PNP effective. However, the regional police office has discovered that some officers have been misreporting crime statistics in their areas of jurisdiction,” Magalong lamented.

That malfeasance, Magalong explained, has made the Global Information System installed in the Philippine National Police (PNP), inefficient. Or, we say, ineffective.

“We place policemen where they are needed and this decision is made based on the crime statistics reported. Crime statistics is an important factor in the making of programs and projects that would deter criminality,” Magalong stressed.

Accurate crime statistics, he said, presents a clear picture of the real peace and order situation in a certain locality. Based on these figures and clear statement of the locations of crimes, the National Police leadership comes up with plans and specific measures to curb criminality by distributing manpower where this is needed.

Not only manpower but also other resources—and funds.

With wrong statistics and information how can the PNP central and regional headquarters make correct plans and programs?

Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong deserves to be commended for his honesty.
We pray he does not get into trouble with his superiors.