The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that crime rates nationwide fell by 13.82 percent over the past three months.
From July to September, the police recorded 8,988 incidents of focus crimes, down from 10,430 during the same period in 2024, PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) chief Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay said in a briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.
Focus crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carjacking of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
Baccay also said crime rates have been declining over the past nine months, from 30,126 incidents recorded between Jan. 1 and Sept. 25, 2024, to 25,648 incidents during the same period in 2025.
Data from the DIDM showed that murder cases fell from 3,042 to 2,549; homicides from 932 to 794; physical injury cases from 4,112 to 3,404; rape cases from 7,191 to 5,540; robbery cases from 3,164 to 2,629; and theft cases from 9,886 to 9,009.
Additionally, motor vehicle carjacking cases dropped from 230 to 191, while motorcycle thefts fell from 1,569 to 1,532, according to the DIDM.
HPG
Later in the briefing, Col. Hansel Marantan, Highway Patrol Group (HPG) director, said the police’s traffic unit recorded 14,111 for not wearing helmets; 7,063 violations for not wearing seatbelts; 187 violations for driving cars without import commodity clearance (ICC) stickers; and 34,681 other traffic infractions from Sept. 1 to 30.
Marantan added that the HPG recovered 94 stolen motor vehicles and 37 stolen motorcycles; arrested 44 alleged carnappers; and confiscated 474 blinkers from motor vehicles during the same period.
He further touted that the HPG began coordinating with the Land Transportation Office for checkpoints to catch drivers under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, with a pilot test last Thursday apprehending at least 20 drivers for minor traffic violations in Quezon City.
The HPG chief also said the police’s traffic unit will begin checking vehicles with white backgrounds and green alphanumeric characters to ensure they are certified hybrid or electric vehicles.
‘We will check the motor vehicles sporting green plates because they need to bring the certification from the Department of Energy to qualify for exemption from the number coding scheme,’ he added in Filipino.
Last Sunday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority issued a statement announcing that it had approved the appeal of a motorist whose electric vehicle was wrongly flagged for violating the number coding scheme through the no-contact apprehension policy.
Electric vehicles are exempt from the number coding scheme through Republic Act No. 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act. /mcm/abc