Fewer crimes recorded during Christmas season, cops say

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Western Visayas celebrated the Christmas season in a generally peaceful manner, according to the police.

Brigadier General Leo Francisco, Western Visayas police chief, revealed that the region’s crime volume dropped from Dec 16 to 25, 2022.

During the said period, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 recorded 510 incidents, lower by 293 incidents, or 36.38 percent, from last year’s  803 cases.

“The decisive interventions and collective efforts of all line units through the effective implementation of the operational concepts focused on Enhanced Managing Police Operations (EMPO) strategies were manifested in the notable decline in crime incidents and peaceful celebration of Christmas here in our region,” Francisco said.

The wider focus crimes – murder, homicide, robbery, physical injury, theft, rape, carnapping (motor vehicle) and carnapping (motorcycle) – also decreased by 71.79 percent compared to the same period last year.

All these were attributed to the deployment of 2,492 PNP personnel and mobilization of 8,473 force multipliers in churches, terminals/ports, malls, markets, commercial areas, parks, tourist destinations and other places of convergence.

Francisco also cited the collaboration, coordination, cooperation and personal commitment of all contributing units and the active support of the stakeholders such as the community and the media.

However, PRO-6 has recorded a stray bullet incident with no injured individual and one firecracker-related incident that injured one person.

But Francisco said he’s thankful that no major incident happened that marred the region’s Christmas celebration.

“Ako po ay nagpapasalamat sa aking kapulisan, sa ating partner agencies, stakeholders, Local Government Units at higit sa lahat sa ating pong komunidad sa inyong kooperasyon para sa payapa, tahimik at masayang pagdiriwang ng Pasko dito sa ating rehiyon,” Francisco said.