DESPITE A drop in serious crimes, non-index crimes in Manila continued to rise in the first half of the year, partly driven by the prevalence of cybercrimes such as online gambling scams, identity theft and “sextortion.”
Index crimes in the city dropped by 31.88% in January to June compared to that of the same period last year, Manila Police Department (MPD) data obtained by The Flame showed.
However, non-index crimes increased by 35.19% from 3,075 in 2024 to 4,157 this year. It has been on the rise since 2023, which had 2,877.
Meanwhile, traffic-related incidents grew to 3,568 from last year’s 2,827.
Index crimes pertain to the seven kinds of serious crimes being monitored by the police, namely murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, car theft, and rape. Other crimes fall under either non-index crimes, especially those that violate city ordinances, or traffic-related crimes.
MPD spokesman Police Major Philipp Ines said the rising number of cybercrimes and online gambling has contributed to yet another spike in non-index crimes in the capital city.
“What we’re seeing now is the prevalence of cybercrimes. Because, of course, it’s technology. You can use those technologies anywhere…. Using the cellphone, you can deceive people,” Ines told The Flame.
Among those being reported to the MPD are “sextortion,” or extorting money by threatening to spread private or sexually explicit videos, pictures or information about a victim; identity theft, and website and lottery win scams.
The police is monitoring the internet for suspicious websites and pages, but continues to to remind the public not to open links being sent via texts or online messages.
Still most frequent
Among the seven index crimes, theft contributed the largest number with 153 reported incidents from January to June, although it was lower by 39.76 percent than the 254 cases recorded in the same time period last year.
It was followed with rape (75) robbery (72), physical injury (54), car theft of motorcycles (38), murder (23) and homicide (12).
According to Ines, the city police has been proactive in dealing with crimes, ensuring they are responded to within five minutes after they were reported through hotline 911.
‘Proactive’ strategy
Ines attributed the drop in index crimes to “proactive strategies” and “high crime solution efficiency,” the percentage of cases where the perpetrator has been arrested and charged in court.
“Proactive strategy, compared to those passive [strategies]… is instead of waiting for something to happen before you act, you move ahead of time,” the MPD spokesman said.
Last year, the Philippine National Police (PNP) required its personnel to arrive at the scene of a crime within five minutes after the incident was reported through 911. It has also vowed to boost police visibility in crime-prone areas.
Ines said on top of simulation exercises for police officers, the MPD also implements targeted “focus operations” against wanted persons, illegal drugs, gambling and loose firearms. He added that the city police is imposing the “necessary” strict implementation of the city ordinances, which includes the prohibition against drinking in public streets, curfew and rescue of minors and street dwellers.
Why crimes are not reported
Ines revealed that aside from equipment issues, , the MPD is dealing with the non-reporting of crimes. He said one reason could be that the victim found it easier to expose it on social media than go through due process, which often takes time.
“Sometimes we have problems there, when people don’t want to file a complaint for a case. Why? It’s true, there’s a hassle. A hearing doesn’t happen just once, and it doesn’t take just one year; sometimes it’s for two and it even reaches three years,” Ines said.
“What about other victims, if we’re not able to arrest these perpetrators of crime?”
Another possible reason behind the lack of reported crimes could be that the victims lacked substantial details to identify the perpetrator.
“It’s not that we’re guessing; sometimes the incidents come but they get reported on social media, not to the police. So, how are we going to address these?” Ines said. F
