MANILA, Philippines — There were fewer Filipinos who fell victim to crime in the second quarter, but they hardly view the streets safer, even from drug addicts, and despite the government's war against criminality, pollster Social Weather Stations found.
Across the archipelago, some crimes have also become more prevalent in Mindanao, where President Rodrigo Dutetre hails, than the rest of the country despite the prevailing military rule on the island in order to fight terrorism.
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The second quarter SWS survey, held from June 27 to 30, released on Thursday showed that over the past six months, there were fewer people who experienced pick-pocketing and physical violence. The number of Filipinos whose homes were broken in or property was damaged were also lesser while carnapping incidents remained steady.
Broken down, only 0.2 percent of respondents said they suffered physical violence, a "record-low," according to SWS.
Four percent experienced pick-pocketing on the streets, down from 4.6 percent in the previous three months. Break-ins (from 2.2 percent to 1.8 percent), property crimes (from 6.1 percent to 5.1 percent) and other crimes (from 6.6 percent to 5.3 percent) also declined.
A total of 0.5 percent of respondents said their cars were stolen, steady from the first quarter.
By location, SWS noted that cases of break-ins have fallen in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, but rose in Visayas and Mindanao.
Mindanao, where martial law has been in effect since May 2017, also experienced a rise in street robberies as well as carnapping during the survey period.
On the flip side, cases of burglary and physical violence fell in Mindanao, while rising elsewhere, SWS found.
Despite the respondents saying they have not experienced crime over the past six months, 46 percent of them still feel streets remain unsafe, steady from the previous quarter.
A majority of 55 percent said they fear burglary could still happen, while 41 percent fear drug addicts are still within their neighborhood. Both were up one point from previous three months.
Broken down by location, fear of drug addicts rose in Mindanao and Metro Manila, fell in the Visayas and was "hardly changed" for the rest of Luzon.
The survey was held a month before Duterte defended again his anti-drug war during his State of the Nation Address before critics, saying it will be "as chilling as the day it began."
The drug war has taken the lives of over 4,000 people since Duterte took over the presidency in July 2016, according to government data. Estimates of rights groups, however, far exceed this number.