BATANGAS, PHILIPPINES—The crime volume rate in Batangas, a first class province in the CALABARZON region, decreased by 15% in the last four years, according to Police Senior Superintendent Atty. Rosauro Ventura Acio, the provincial director of Batangas Police Provincial Office (BPPO).
Seen to be the year with highest crime rate was 2009 with 2,050 crimes against persons and 2,302 crimes against property. For the period of January to September 2012, crimes against persons are at 699 and crimes against property at 598.
Out of 1,297 reported crimes, 660 were filed in court and 398 suspects were arrested. Meanwhile, 637 cases remain unsolved. Around 63% crimes were solved during the start of the term of the new police director in 2011.
The decrease in crime rate is said to be due to their move of enhancing and capacitating police investigators, which resulted to the capture of most wanted criminals not only in the province but in the regional and national levels as well.
When SecurityMatters asked Atty. Acio the difference of Batangas PNP to other units, he said, “Actually we have served a large number of warrants of arrests from the start of the year.” He also claimed they have become more aggressive in going after perpetrators.
According to a statistics report provided by BPPO, from January to September of this year, theft still ranks as the major offense with 320 cases, followed by physical injury at 318, murder at 245, robbery at 192, rape at 106, carnapping at 84, homicide at 30, and cattle rustling at 2.
The recorded common targets of thieves are owners of establishments, students, employees, and innocent civilians. In physical injury, the usual victims are suspects’ friends, colleagues, relatives, and the youth. In murder, even law enforcers are accounted as victims as well as suspects’ enemies and businessmen. Robbers, meanwhile, target establishments that are not well-guarded. Rape victims are mostly children and are of incestuous kind. In carnapping, the oftenly involved vehicle is the motorcycle. Homicide’s usual targets are suspects’ friends/colleagues, relatives, innocent civilians, and gangs. Farmers are, of course, the targets in cattle rustling.
According to Atty. Acio, there’s a study that said Batangueňos tend to have “inherited aggression.” The local machismo image of being “Barako” made a remarkable number of cases among rivalries, business feud, and battle with law enforcers.
But with the holiday season coming, the norm is that the volumes of crime-related incidents will be doubled. But according to BPPO, they foresee “that the crime trend will continuously decrease in the last quarter of 2012 with all the preventive measures now being implemented.” Which means checkpoints and patrolling of police are expected to continue as well to ensure the safety and security of the province and its people.
This is because, according to Atty. Acio, they are more up for the deterrence of crime. “We are applying the concept of being preventive than reactive,” he said.
Regardless, he advised the public that in spite of the rush to celebrate the season with the family, awareness and vigilance is a must.
