PRO3 Regional Director PBGEN Rhodel O. Sermonia bared that crime incidence in Central Luzon went down almost 39 percent to 7,887 in just three months, citing that community involvement played an important part in lowering crimes in the region.
Sermonia said that from March 17, the day that the enhanced community quarantine was implemented, until June 10, there was a decline of 5,031 or 38.95 percent from the 12,918 crimes recorded in the same period last year by the police office of the PNP in the region.
Sermonia said: “This only goes to show that amidst the enormous tasks being performed by our men on the ground, we continue to level- up our anti-criminality measures particularly on our anti-drug campaign along with the continuous strengthening of our police-community relations.”
He added that “there is indeed a relationship between the involvement of the community and crime reduction. Through our relentless community policing, there has been a notable crime reduction.”
“We will have no let-up on our crackdown on all forms of lawlessness amidst the lockdown as we continue to intensify our anti-criminality campaign thru our enhanced focused police operations,” he further stated.
Sermonia said that a total of 2,000 individuals were apprehended for illegal drugs, with P5.1 billion worth of shabu and P153,000 worth of marijuana confiscated. 2,140 persons as well were arrested for illegal gambling while 43 most wanted and 596 wanted persons in the region were collared.