By Joann Santiago
MANILA, March 11 (PNA) — The Palace on Wednesday said ensuring the safety of every Filipino is on top of the Aquino administration’s priority.
”(The) Government is determined to ensure the safety of its citizens. This is premised on government’s ability to maintain peace and order in the barangays (villages),” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.
”President (Benigno) Aquino (III) has directed the PNP (Philippine National Police) to intensify its campaign against criminality, with priority to gun use control, to forestall the commission of crimes against persons and property,” he added.
Government efforts towards addressing criminality has proven its worth following the drop in the number of those who said they fell victims to criminals.
Results of the Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) survey on criminality, done from November 27-December 1, 2014, showed that about 6.2 percent of the respondents said they lost property through pickpockets, burglars and carnappers.
This is a drop from the 7.1 percent rate during the survey done last September and is similar to the September 2003 figure which to date is the lowest.
The SWS survey also showed that 0.7 percent of Filipino families, estimated to be around 153,000, had members hurt by physical violence in the last six months. This is lower than the 1.2 percent figure in the previous survey.
Based on average, families who reported falling prey to criminals last year stood at about 6.7 percent with an average of 12 crimes for every 10 victimized families, it said.
SWS said “victimization by common crimes reported in SWS surveys is much higher than the number of crimes actually reported to the police.” (PNA)