The first month of 2026 ended as a good opening salvo for the Philippine National Police (PNP) after it recorded a 24.32 percent decrease in focus crimes for the month of January compared with the same month last year.
From 3,236 focus crime incidents in January 2025, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. said the figure went down to 2,449 cases of murder, homicide, physical injuries, rape, theft, robbery, carnapping and motorcycle theft.
He attributed the decline to increased police visibility, more community engagements and strategic deployment of personnel, especially in crime prone areas.
“And we are continuously auditing, reviewing each and every unit. It is not enough that our policemen are there on the ground, our focus agenda is to ensure the active participation of our community,” said Nartatez.
Based on the PNP data, murder cases went down to 284 from 316 last year, homicide from 104 last year to 83 last month, physical injury cases dropped from 409 to 283, nd rape cases was down to 331 from 848.
Theft slightly decreased from 1,020 to 981; carnapping of motor vehicles dropped from 25 to 17, and motorcycle theft from 189 to 144.
“These figures tell us one thing, that our communities are becoming safer. This is not an overnight result, this is the result of the continuous work of our police officers,” said Nartatez.
He then tasked all police commanders and personnel to intensify patrols, strengthen community coordination, and strictly monitor police performance to sustain the decline of focus crimes.
