State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
February 6, 2024
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. discussed matters concerning the national peace and order situation with key officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during a sectoral meeting at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace.
PNP Chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr. provided a comprehensive overview of the country’s crime situation, highlighting key focus areas such as theft, rape, physical injury, robbery, murder, homicide, motor vehicle (MV) carnapping and motorcycle (MC) carnapping. The nation currently boasts an impressive 82.48% Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) rate as of January 2024.
In addition, the PNP Chief outlined operational achievements from 1 July 2022 to 31 January 2024, encompassing successes against illegal drugs, loose firearms, cybercrime, e-sabong websites, kidnapping-for-ransom and Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs). Notably, the PNP emphasized its involvement in 20,924,610 total anti-criminal activities over the past two years.
The PNP also cited significant challenges in maintaining law and order, including limited access control at ports and airports, which are potential avenues for drug smuggling. There are also opportunities for high-value drug personalities to expand their networks within jails, underscoring that the shift to online platforms for illegal transactions and an uptick in cybercrimes, which posed additional complexities. The PNP is actively addressing transnational crimes, online exploitation of children, human trafficking and the strain on law enforcement during mass events due to a rise in monitored participants.
To address these challenges, PNP is set to enhance national security through a comprehensive strategy, which includes collaborating with various key government agencies such as local government units (LGUs), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), telcos, service providers and others.
Furthermore, the PNP presented a forward-looking Capability Enhancement Program (CEP) for 2024 and 2025, focusing on upgrades in mobility, firepower, communication equipment and internal security operations (ISO) equipment. This initiative aims to modernize the PNP, ensuring its preparedness to tackle evolving challenges and uphold public safety across the nation.
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