The number of Filipino families who claimed to have been victimized by common crimes in the past six months rose in the final three months of 2018, according to the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations.
In its fourth quarter 2018 survey, the SWS said approximately 1.8 million Filipino families, or around 7.6 percent of all families in the country, were victims of common crimes in the second half of 2018.
That is 1.5 percent more than the estimated 1.4 million families victimized by common crimes in the previous quarter, the SWS said.
However, National Capital Region Police chief Director Guillermo Eleazar on Saturday said the crime rate in Metro Manila is declining, despite the nationwide SWS poll.
Eleazar said in an interview on radio dzBB that while the crime rate is declining, “fluctuations” are expected.
“The trend is that it’s going down. The fluctuation is basically expected,” he said.
The NCR cop chief also stressed that the crime rate actually dropped to 54 percent during the first 30 months of the Duterte administration, compared to the last 30 months of the previous Aquino government.
The survey also said that 61 percent of Filipino adults fear burglary, up by nine points from the 52 percent posted last September.
Also, 54 percent of respondents claimed they fear walking the streets at night, up by eight points from the 46 percent in the preceding quarter.
The SWS said property crimes like street robbery or pickpocketing rose to 6.9 percent in the last six months of 2018, affecting at least 1.6 million families.
The figure is up from 5.6 percent, or around 1.3 million families, in the September survey.
“Except in June 2016 when it was at 10.9 percent, victimization by property crimes has been at single-digit levels from March 2012 to December 2018,” SWS reported.
The survey said Metro Manila posted the highest instance of street robberies, followed by Mindanao, Balance Luzon (areas of Luzon outside Metro Manila), and Visayas, respectively.
The National Capital Region continues to have the highest rate of carnapping, affecting approximately 1.0 percent of vehicle-owning families in the region. No cases of carnapping were reported from respondents from the other regions.
Eleazar said the police will intensify its efforts to curb criminality. “We really have to continue what we have started. We will boost our operations against illegal drugs,” he said.
