MALAYBALAY CITY (BukidnonNews.net/ 01 July 2025)—The crime rate in Northern Mindanao decreased by 6 percent this year, according to the PNP Regional Office 10. This is based on the total crime volume from January 1 to May 20.
The total crime volume is categorised into public safety and peace and order indexes.
Public safety vs Peace & order indexes
Public safety index covers vehicular accidents charged as reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to properties.
According to PRO10 data, there was a 9.93 percent decrease in public safety crimes with 2,629 recorded from August 14 to December 31, 2024 which declined to 2,368 crimes from January to May this year.
The peace and order index covers both index and non-index crimes.
According to PRO10 data, there is a 12.80 percent decrease of Index crimes such as murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carnapping in 2025 compared to data from August to December 2024.
There is also a 0.12 percent increase in non-index crimes which included police-initiated sting operations on gambling and drugs, illegal mining, smuggling, cybercrime operation, and illegal possession of firearms.
Total number of August-December 2024 peace and order crimes was recorded at 3,192 compared to January-May 2025 at 3,104.
Bukidnon shootings
According to Police Major JoAnn Navarro, PRO10 spokesperson, the 6 percent overall decrease in crime volume is useless if the people feel anxious about their environment. She cited the series of shooting incidents in Bukidnon this year.
She said the incidents were considered isolated cases as the suspects intent to kill were targeted. The cases are now considered “crime cleared,” which means the suspects have been identified, the evidence gathered, and cases have been lodged at the prosecutor level.
Major Navarro advised the public to trust the police.
“Ang pagsulbad sa krimen kinahanglan ang pagtabang, kooperasyon ug panaghiusa,” she said. (Solving crimes need community help, cooperation, and unity.)
3 to 5-minute response time testing
According to her, they are now testing the 3 to 5 minute response time to calls on 911. Prioritised in this experimental simulation phase were independent cities and component cities in the region.
Independent cities comprise Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. Meanwhile, component cities cover Tangub, Ozamiz and Oroquieta cities in Misamis Occidental; Gingoog and El Salvador in Misamis Oriental; and Malaybalay and and Valencia in Bukidnon.
Navarro added they are also slowly shifting workloads so that only non-uniformed personnel will be left in the offices and the police force would establish more public visibility.