BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – COVID-19 did scare residents of Baguio and Benguet so much that they decided to stay in their houses – even the criminals.
Baguio City Police Director Colonel Allen Rae Co said only 79 crimes were reported from March 16 to April 30 this year, compared to the 279 crimes reported in the same period in 2019.
He said that prior to the implementation of the lockdown or the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from March 1 to 15, 2020, there were 130 crimes reported – more than the 118 in the same period in 2019.
During the ECQ, crimes dropped by three-fourths.
Co also said that violators of ECQ or those trying to beat the curfew also went down from 30 to 40 daily in the first weeks of the ECQ to two to zero in the past few days.
Benguet, which already has one of the lowest crime rate in the country, also saw its crime numbers dip even further during the ECQ.
From March 16 to 26 this year, the total index and non-index crimes reported in Benguet was only 42. A year ago, the number was 307 within the same period, or a drop of more than 86%.
There were, however, about 300 violators of the ECQ in Benguet. – Rappler.com
