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The police was referring to the shooting of Vicente Ferrainni on Feb. 2 and the skirmishes between the military and NPA on Feb. 9 and 19 in Catigan, Toril.
But city police chief Jaime Morente told the City Peace and Order Council in a meeting Monday that they were expecting the NPA to conduct limited tactical offensives on or before their 39th anniversary.
The NPA was founded on March 29, 1969.
Morente said non-index crimes increased from 125 in January to 185 in February, which explains the increase in crime volume.
In February, 66 index crimes were recorded as against 67 in January.
Police expected street crimes to increase during the Araw ng Dabaw and Holy Week celebrations. They also predicted a rise in gangsterism during the summer vacation. Non-index crimes are crimes against persons, crimes against, crimes against morals and order, crimes against chastity (abduction, seduction, lascivious acts) and other crimes. Morente attributed the increase in these crimes to the enforcement of special laws by the police. He said that "generally, a decrease in index crimes is a sign that our peace and order is stable."
Physical injuries accounted for most of the crimes against persons and occurred during late evening and early morning, from 11 pm to 3 am, and usually resulted from drunkenness.
Murder incidents ranked second in incidents of crimes against persons. Police said these were mostly the handiwork of gangs and triggered by personal grudges. The police claimed an increase in their crime solution rate, from 87.20% in January to 91.89% in February. (MindaNews)