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Philippines Crime
Despite some improvement in law and order, crime remained a
major problem through the end of the 1980s. Police attributed the
country's chronic crime problems to a variety of social and
cultural factors. Widespread poverty and rapid population growth
were frequently cited. Population pressures and a shortage of
land and jobs in rural areas had produced a steady internal
migration to the cities. This urbanization of a traditionally
agrarian society was commonly mentioned as cause for increased
crime rates. In particular, police pointed to the rapid growth of
urban slum and squatter areas; more than 25 percent of the
population of
Metro-Manila (see Glossary)
were thought to be
squatters in the late 1980s
(see Migration
, ch. 2). Widespread
possession of firearms--including automatic rifles--was another
factor contributing to crime. Undisciplined private armies,
usually maintained by local politicians and wealthy families, and
numerous organized crime gangs were the biggest violators of
firearms laws. The communist and Muslim insurgencies compounded
the problem of proliferating guns and violence. Piracy and
smuggling also were thriving criminal industries, especially in
the southern portions of the archipelago.
According to the police, the incidence of serious crime
escalated through the early 1980s, from approximately 250 crimes
per 100,000 population in 1979, to a sustained level of around
310 during 1984 through 1987, then declined in 1988 and 1989. In
1988 the crime rate dipped below 300 crimes per 100,000 people,
then fell dramatically in 1989 to 251 crimes per 100,000
citizens. Because of differing reporting practices and degrees of
coverage, it was difficult to compare Philippine crime rates to
those of other countries.
Government officials attributed the decrease in crime to
improved police work, but economic conditions appeared to be as
important. The deterioration in law and order during the early
and mid-1980s accompanied a steadily worsening economy, whereas
the improvement in the late 1980s paralleled renewed economic
growth under Aquino. Not surprisingly, crime rates were highest
in major urban areas, where unemployment was the highest.
Regionally, peninsular southern Luzon, the western Visayan
islands, and portions of Mindanao--impoverished rural areas where
insurgents were active--had the most criminal activity in the
mid-1980s.
Drug use and trafficking were growing problems during the
1980s, particularly in marijuana. Cultivation was geographically
widespread, but the mountainous portions of northern Luzon and
the central Visayas were the major marijuana-growing centers.
During the late 1980s, another drug, methamphetamine, was fast
becoming a narcotics problem. Known locally as shabu, it
had generally been smuggled into the country, but domestic
production expanded sharply in 1989 to meet growing demand. Coca
cultivation was not significant in 1989, and there was no
evidence of opium poppy cultivation or heroin manufacture.
The Philippines remained a center of drug trafficking and
transshipment. Cannabis growers exported their product to Hong
Kong, Japan, Australia, and the United States, and Philippine
waters were routinely used by other smugglers as a transshipment
point for Southeast Asian marijuana bound for North America.
Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, too, was used for
transhipment of heroin and marijuana destined for Guam,
Australia, Europe, and the United States. Production and
trafficking of illegal drugs was accomplished by a variety of
domestic and foreign criminal groups, notably Australian,
American, and ethnic Chinese Filipinos. Communist insurgents also
were involved in marijuana cultivation.
Corruption remained a serious problem in the early 1990s, and
its elimination was one of the government's most vexing
challenges. Despite persistent efforts, petty graft was
commonplace, and high-level corruption scandals periodically
rocked the government. As part of its continuing efforts to weed
out official malfeasance, the government maintained a special
anticorruption court, known as the Sandiganbayan.
Other government initiatives targeted corruption, crime, and
terrorism. Peace and Order Councils at the national, regional,
and provincial level were rejuvenated under Aquino. By regularly
bringing together responsible government, military, and community
leaders, the government hoped to improve the effectiveness of its
anticrime and counterinsurgency programs. AFP and police
commanders also attempted to address the problems of internal
corruption and abuse, which, they admitted, undermined public
confidence in, and cooperation with, the security forces. Top
military leaders routinely publicized retraining programs, the
discharge and demotion of scalawags in the ranks, and other
measures designed to improve discipline. The military also
mounted a counternarcotics effort, spearheaded by the
constabulary's Narcotics Command. Government agents more than
doubled arrests during 1989 and eradicated millions of marijuana
plants, but they still found it difficult to keep pace with the
growing drug trade.
Data as of June 1991
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