By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Crime rate in Metro Manila dropped by 37.06 percent in the second month of 2025, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) acting chief Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin said on Sunday.
In a news release, Aberin said the NCRPO recorded 343 focus crimes in February, lower than the 545 logged during the same month last year.
Classified as focus crimes are murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, theft, robbery, vehicle and motorcycle theft.
Based on data from the Crime Information, Reporting and Analysis System, murder cases dropped by 41.94 percent from 31 in February 2024 to 18 in February 2025, while homicide declined by 25 percent from 12 to nine cases.
Physical injury and rape cases, meanwhile, both saw a decrease of nearly 50 percent, from 57 to 29 cases (-49.12 percent) and 91 to 46 cases (-49.45 percent), respectively.
Robbery cases also went down by 33.73 percent from 83 to 55, and theft cases by 33.62 percent from 229 to 152.
Carnapping cases in February likewise decreased, with motor vehicle carnapping dropping by 57.14 percent from seven to three cases, and motorcycle carnapping by 11.43 percent from 35 to 31.
Aberin said crime solution efficiency rose by 8.68 percentage points from 67.71 percent in February 2024 to 76.38 percent in February 2025.
“We understand that some may not immediately feel the impact of these improvements, but the numbers speak for themselves,” Aberin said in a statement.
The NCRPO chief attributed the decline in the focus crime numbers to “strengthened police visibility, intelligence-driven operations, and deepened community engagement.” (PNA)
