Supt. Angel Bondoc, deputy director for operations of the Nueva Ecija police provincial office (NEPPO) said police have recorded 978 crime incidents as against the 1,036 incidents in the same period of last year.
Bondoc made the report amid the province’s relentless drive against illegal drugs in response to President Duterte’s all-out drug war.
Of the crimes reported, Bondoc, said theft was the highest at 231, followed by physical injuries with 230 and robbery, 200. Carnapping was placed at 134; rape, 90; murder, 81 and homicide, 12.
Cabanatuan City, the most urban locality in Nueva Ecija, had the highest number of incidents, followed by San Jose City and the municipality of Talavera, police reported.
Police observed that theft usually happen in the afternoon in unattended apartments and subdivisions.
Senior Supt. Antonio Yarra, provincial police director, said theft incidents may be rising because drug pushers who can no longer continue in their illicit trade are “doing everything to get money.”
But police, he said, will not take them sitting down as measures are being done to address such crimes.
