Amid the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs and criminality—criticized for alleged encouragement of human rights abuses—crime rate in Bohol posted an uptick in August.

Addressing the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) on Friday, Supt. Lorenzo Batuan, Bohol police operations chief, said that crime volume rose by six percent to 760 in August from 719 in July.

Batuan attributed the increase to the rise of non-index crimes which he said was caused by the government’s intensified drive against illegal drugs.

He said that non-index crimes posted a 12 percent increase as 513 incidents were recorded in August while only 458 were tallied in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the number of index crimes slightly dropped to 247 in August from 261 in July, decreasing by 6 percent.

According to Batuan, theft comprised the largest chunk of Bohol’s crime volume in August at 119 incidents.

Murder was ranked second with 14 incidents while rape was third which had eight cases in the same month.

No incidents of cattle rustling were recorded in the month of August while there was one homicide case and 6 carnappings in the said month.

Also during the PPOC meeting, the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) reaffirmed its commitment to fight illegal narcotics trade and criminality in the province.

Previously, BPPO public information officer Supt. Ricky Delilis said that law enforcers in Bohol are already at “50 percent” in achieving its target of eradicating illegal drug activities in Bohol.

Delilis noted that he is optimistic that illegal narcotics trade in Bohol would have significantly weakened or even completely wiped out within six months starting July when the Duterte administration took over the helm of Malacañang. (Rey Tutas)

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