In a Facebook post Thursday, September 1, Presidential Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles asked the public to share their Christmas wishes.
“Ber months na, mga kababayan! Ano ang wish mo na gusto mong matupad ngayong Christmas season?” the abogado wrote.
“Stay safe always and let’s spread the essence of love,” she reminded everyone.
In line with ensuring public safety, the Philippine National Police has announced that in a press brieifing on Wednesday, August 31 that more police officers will be deployed in malls, shopping centers, streets and other establishments to prevent crime incidents during the “ber” months.
“As always, we anticipate the crime to go when the ber months come that is why I instructed our police not just in the National Capital Region for an increased police presence,” said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. in a Palace briefing Wednesday.
Accoding to Chief Azurin, police visibility is essential as it has been proven to help eliminate crime incidence in the past years.
“We will be deploying mobile patrols even to the point of deploying our SAF (Special Action Force). Our police officers must be on alert specifically in crime-prone areas. I have directed district directors to inform all village leaders with regards to their crime expectation so we would know where to deploy and the interventions needed for each village to work hand in hand,” he added.
Azurin earlier said index crimes in the country have been on a steady downtrend during President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first 56 days in office.
From July 1 to Aug. 25 this year, theft cases decreased to 1,896 from 7,514 in 2016 and 12,773 in 2010 while physical injury cases also dropped to 579 from 3,777 in 2016 and 10,208 in 2010.
The same trend was also seen in cases of robbery (793 from 3,028 in 2016 and 6,580 in 2010; murder (649 from 2,332 in 2016 and 1,423 in 2010; carnapping (280 from 1,253 in 2016 and 1,169 in 2010); rape (903 from 1,666 in 2016 and 704 in 2010); and homicide (161 from 345 in 2016 and 614 in 2010).
Azurin said that they would like for this numbers to continue its decreasing trend and that the Philippine National Police will be strengthening their strategies to improve crime clearance and solution efficiencies.
