Murder cases, on monthly basis, declining since 2016: Eleazar

October 3, 2019

Though murder cases increased in the 39 months of President Rodrigo Duterte administration compared to last administration, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Major General Guillermo Eleazar, said these are decreasing on a monthly basis this year. 

"On the first year of the (Duterte) administration, you can see the spike in murder cases. This is the time we (just started) the campaign against illegal drugs," Eleazar told reporters on Wednesday.

"This is what we called purging. The syndicates are killing each other. They want to silence the syndicates. Even cops, there are scalawags who killed their members in the syndicates," he added.

During the Aquino administration, there were 2, 682 murder cases from April 2013 to June 2016 while the Duterte administration recorded 4,295 cases from July 2016 to September 2019.

Records will show the cases of murder increased by 60 percent.

But Eleazar said the PNP's ''murder case for the average monthly index crime for this year compared to last year is lower.''

From January to September 2019, police recorded 458 cases lower than 592 cases last year on the same period.

"Murder cases are just part of the crime volume but if you look at the total crime volume, the statistics decrease," said Eleazar.

For 2019, they recorded 9,024 cases compared to 10, 458 last year.

The NCRPO chief said the decrease in crime rate can be attributed to the government's war on illegal drugs and intensified enforcement of city ordinances.

"Most of these index crimes (are) being committed because of involvement with use of drugs," he said.

"Also our intensified enforcement of city ordinances prevented petty crimes which help in stopping serious crimes," Eleazar added.

Eleazar believed the PNP's crime prevention was effective not only in Metro Manila but the whole country. Ella Dionisio/DMS