Number of robbery cases drop: PNP

FILE: Philippine National Police personnel on December 31 at the National Headquarters (Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

MANILA – The incidence of robbery nationwide is on the decline, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced Friday.

In a statement, PNP spokesperson, Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, said the trend began last year and continued until the second half of 2017, with the number of robbery cases dropping by 23.61 percent or 4,311 cases from 18,259 in January to October in 2016 to only 13,948 cases in the same period this year.

Carlos said month on month, the number of robbery cases decreased 44.89 percent from a high of 2,350 in January 2016 to only 1,295 last October, an all-time low recorded over 22 months.

All PNP regional offices posted a reduction in robbery incidents in their respective areas of responsibility during the January-October period, he said.

Robbery is among eight focus crime concerns in the PNP’s operational thrust on anti-criminality, Carlos said.

Latest PNP data on crime incidents involving motorcycle-riding suspects (MRS) showed robbery as the most prevalent among incidents perpetrated by criminals on two wheels.

From Oct. 10 to Nov. 5, 115 out of 327 crimes involving motorcycle-riding suspects were robberies. Three of these MRS-related robbery incidents resulted in homicide.