Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, PRO-7 deputy director for operations, says that the continuous police operations from July 9 to July 15 have caused a slight drop in the number of crimes in the region. | Mary Godinez/CTU Intern
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police have noted a slight drop in the number of crimes in the Central Visayas after weeklong operations against illegal drugs yielded P34 million worth of suspected shabu and resulted to the arrest of 203 individuals.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) spokesperson, said that the continuous police operations led to a significant 16 percent drop in crime compared to the previous week.
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Weeklong operations in Central Visayas
Pelare was referring to the police operations conducted from July 9 to July 15 as compared to the results of the operation the week before or from July 2 to July 8.
He said that index crimes recorded in the region from July 2 to July 8 were 67.
Index crimes refer to crimes of murder, homicide, rape, physical injuries, theft, robbery and kidnapping.
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Drop in index crimes noted
Pelare said that there were 67 index crimes recorded from July 2 to July 8.
But from July 9 to July 15, Pelare said that the crimes recorded in this span of time was 16 percent lower than that of previous week.
This means that the recorded index crimes in the region covering the July 9 to July 15 period were only more or less 56.
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Central Visayas operations, a proactive measure
“Kani atuang pagpanakop nagresulta ni sa pagkunhod sa atong krimen,” Pelare said.
(The arrests that we made resulted to the decrease in our crimes (in the region).)
He further said that the arrest of individuals involved in illegal drugs, illegal gambling, and possession of loose firearms was a proactive measure to ensure that the crime rates would remain low in the region.
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“Kay kining mga (Because these) drug personalities, also, they can commit crimes. This wanted person they can commit crimes, and for loose firearms proliferating, this can be used in crimes,” Pelare said.
“This is not to make the lives of people miserable, but this is in accordance with our functions in maintaining peace and order and security in our region,” he said.
Illegal gambling in Central Visayas
Aside from operations against illegal drugs, the region’s policemen also conducted anti-illegal gambling operations and arrested 338 individuals.
The region’s policemen also served warrants of arrest and caught 241 wanted individuals during the July 9 to July 15 police operations. | Mary Godinez/CTU Intern
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