MAMANG PULIS -- CRIMES nationwide went down by 23 percent over the past nine months compared to the same period in 2010 despite a recent string of high-profile criminal cases including the murder of Ramgen Revilla and several daring robbery-holdups and killings involving motorcycle-riding gunmen in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, Philippine National Police chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said yesterday.

“There is an ongoing investigation into the celebrated cases involving some high-profile personalities but let me say that isolated as these incidents are, these cases do not represent a valid and accurate measure of the obtaining crime situation much less an indication of the larger peace and order environment in the country,” Gen. Bartolome said as he ordered stepped-up anti-criminality patrol in preparation for the coming Yuletide season.

The PNP chief cited official statistics which showed that the total crime volume in the country from January to September this year actually went down by 23 percent or 193,753 compared to the 251,150 crimes recovered during the same period last year.

Bartolome said that in particular, crimes against persons went down by 30 percent during the same period compared to the past 10 months of 2010. From January to September this year, police recorded a total of 46,753 crimes against persons compared to the 67,184 recorded in 2010.

When it comes to crimes against property, the PNP recorded 76,211 such crimes from January to September this year or down by 16 percent compared to the 91,848 crimes against property recorded during the same period last year.

At the same time, Bartolome said the average monthly index crime rate went down by 24 percent this year as the PNP recorded a 14.18 average monthly index crime rate from January to September this year compared to the 18.72 average during the first 10 months of 2010.

“The celebrated Ramgen Bautista murder case has all the hallmarks of a by-the-book investigation and case build-up operation by the Parañaque City Police. Let me continue by emphasizing that the PNP leadership squarely supports Paranaque City police in its handling of the investigation of the Ramgen Bautista murder case,” he said in airing his full support to the Parañaque police force led by Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran and made public his confidence that the suspects will be fully prosecuted and the heinous case will be speedily solved.