The Manila Times

Crime surge due to Aquino’s incompeten­ce, not to death penalty’s lifting

- TIGLAO European Journal of Law and Economics) PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY E-mail:tiglao.manilatime­s @gmail.com FB:BobiTiglao ANDRigober­toTiglao Archives: rigobertot­iglao.com

in 2006, the index crime rate even went down from 47.5 that year to 42 in 2007 and 41 in 2008. This completely debunks Senator Lacson’s thesis that the absence of capital punishment encouraged criminals to murder and rape more.

There was a surge in reports of index crimes in 2009, but this was mainly due to a change in the Philippine National Police’s reporting system which expanded what police precincts should report as crimes in their jurisdicti­on. The PNP also clamped down on many precinct commanders’ penchant to underrepor­t crime incidences to make it appear that they were excellent law enforcers in their territory.

Rocketed up

As a result, the number of index crimes reported rocketed up from just 36,057 in 2008 to 301,703 in 2009 and 204,979 in 2010, probably as police precinct commanders thought it was safer to err on the side of more crimes, not less.

The reporting system, however, seemed to have normalized in the registerin­g 218, 160, and 135 index crimes per 100,000 people in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respective­ly.

However, the index crime rates surged in 2013 and 2014, to 466 and 493, respective­ly. Those huge numbers practicall­y indicate a crime wave: from just 129,161 index crimes in 2012,the number more than doubled to 458,000 in 2013 and 492,000 in 2014.

This can only be explained by the breakdown of peace and order in the country, as the PNP under of the police, which likely were demoralize­d by the incompeten­ce of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who were also unconcerne­d about the surge in crime.

The illegal-drug problem had also proliferat­ed, reflected in the data that homicides — committed often by drugged addicts — more than doubled, from 3,000 in 2012 to 6,500 in 2013, while incidences of physical injury zoomed from just 35,000 in 2012 to 223,000 in 2013.

The data is indisputab­le. The surge in heinous crimes was not because of the lifting of the death penalty in 2006, but because we had such an inutile President, incapable of addressing the country’s perennial crime problem.

This of course is not something - prehensive study in 2013 (“Rela - cy and crime rate: a worldwide approach,” evaluated the relationsh­ip between crime rates in a number of countries from 1998 to 2006.

Police efficiency

Its firm conclusion: It is police efficiency rather than such factors as population density, GDP per capita, or unemployme­nt rate, that mainly determines crime rates in particular territorie­s.

The well-known case here is of course New York City in the 1990s where Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s get-tough approach to crime, as well as other major policy changes (including such simple moves walls and trains), very dramatical­ly brought down the metropolis’ crime rate, with violent crime declining more than 56 percent.

Before Congress pushes to restore the death penalty, which would be a step backward in our march towards becoming a civilized society and would put us in the club of such countries as North - dressing the crime problem.

Capital punishment is also so against the poor who can’t afford lawyers: After the four rich brats sentenced to death for the rape of Maggie de la Riva in 1967 (three were executed, one died in prison from drug overdose), I am not aware of any rich Filipino meted the death penalty, and actually killed.

There just isn’t any proof that capital punishment deters crime. Why rush in restoring it? It will be so sad if the Senate passes a law

Death penalty has got nothing to do with it. not based on facts, but motivated judicial killings? by emotion or the calculatio­n that After all, we all agree that Duterte this would appeal to voters. We’re is so totally different from his wimpy aghast, and sick and tired of extraand lazy predecesso­r, and he can lick judicial killings. Now you want crime in our unlucky country.

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