President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he wants the new chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to continue efforts that have led to lower crime rates, while also focusing on making police officers more visible in communities.
In a media interview in Malaysia, President Marcos said the country has seen a drop in crime, especially in Metro Manila, where the crime rate fell by 23 percent over the last six months.
According to the president, on national level, index crimes — including murder, theft, robbery, and rape — dropped from 15,156 cases between January 1 and May 16 last year to 11,493 during the same period this year.
“They must be doing something right,” President Marcos said.
“The statistics are good. But it’s not enough that crime is going down — people need to see the police so they feel safe,” he added.
The president said police visibility plays a big role in public confidence.
He noted programs like “Cops on the Beat,” which sends officers on regular patrols in public areas, are meant to make sure communities know help is nearby if something goes wrong.
“It’s important that there’s a police officer around, that people see them,” he said.
“Sometimes just knowing that there’s someone there who can respond is enough,” the president added.
President Marcos also talked about his administration’s goal of cutting police response time to just five minutes in urban areas. He said the government is working on centralizing emergency hotlines to help dispatch police faster, since many areas still use different contact numbers.
“We’re hoping that in cities at least, we can get to that five-minute response time,” he said.
“It’s not easy, but if officers on the ground are in direct contact with dispatchers, it’s possible,” the President added.
He also pointed out that prank calls are a major challenge. According to Mr. Marcos, about 70 percent of emergency calls turn out to be fake, which slows down the system and wastes resources.
“That’s something we need to fix,” he said.
He declined to name the successor, saying he wants to personally inform the appointee first before making an official announcement.
He, however, hinted that the officer is a veteran who knows what needs to be done.
Police General Rommel Marbil, the current PNP chief, will retire on June 7. His term was extended in February to ensure continuity during the election season, past the mandatory retirement age of 56.
