Police assure safety for Normin tourists

MindanaoToday.com | Police assure safety for Normin tourists

By: URIEL QUILINGUING

The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Northern Mindanao on Thursday, January 18, assured every resident and tourist of their safety in the region, claiming criminality has been on a downtrend since last year.

In a statement, General Ricardo Layug Jr., PNP regional director in Northern Mindanao, said records showed over six-percent reduction of crime volume in 2023 compared to the previous year. Last year’s total was 2,118 lower than 2022’s 2,264.

On Tuesday last week, police placed the number of Black Nazarene devotees at 18 thousand in a procession in Cagayan de Oro, yet not a single untoward incident was reported to the police. Security was tested to the hilt.

Within the last quarter last year, the month of December posted only 114 cases of focused crimes, much lower than the 145 in November and 165 in October—months when police expects criminality to spike due to the Christmas season.  These include incidents of murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, theft robbery, carnapping, and other “complex” crimes.

Last year, police in the region recorded a total of 112 tagged as members of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) in Northern Mindanao who gave themselves up. There were 52 who were killed in armed encounters, according to the statement of the PNP-10.

Layug attributed in the government’s “End to Local Communist Armed Conflict” to the “focus military operations conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines” and PNP’s deployment of Revitalized Police Sa Barangay (R-PSB) to Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAS).

The reduction in criminality last year could be due to “the dedicated police force of PRO 10 (who) has actively implemented various crime prevention strategies, including intensified patrolling, community partnerships, and focused law enforcement operations,” he said.

Layug said that these measures combined with the support and cooperation of the community, have contributed significantly to the remarkable reduction in criminal activities.

“PNP PRO 10 assures the public that Northern Mindanao continues to remain a safe and peaceful destination for all people, including tourists and foreign nationals,” he said even as he advised the public to be vigilant and to report suspicious activities to the authorities. (MT)

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