VICTIMIZATION by any of the common crimes cited by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) rose 1.5 points from 6.5% in September last year to 7.6% in the polling group’s Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey.

In contrast, however to this rise in reported crimes, the annual average for 2017 was a record-low 6.1% — 2.1 points below the 8.2% average in 2016. This is due to the record-low 3.7% quarterly victimization rate in June 2017, SWS said.

An estimated 1.6 million or 7.1% of families lost property to street robbery (pickpocket or robbery of personal property), burglary (break-ins), or carjacking — a 1.3-point increase from the 5.8% (est. 1.3 million) in September 2017, and the highest property crime rate since the 10.9% in June 2016.

Yet the resulting annual average on property crimes for 2017 was a record-low 5.6%, due to the record-low property crime rate of 3.1% in June that year.

The December survey also found 0.8% (est. 188,000) of families with members hurt by physical violence within the past six months — 0.3 point above the 0.5% (est. 115,000) in September 2017, and the highest since the 0.9% in June 2016.

STREET ROBBERIES, BREAK-INS
Despite lower 2017 averages, street robberies rose in Metro Manila by 3 points to 10.3% in December and in the Visayas by 1 point to 5%. But street robberies fell in Balance Luzon by 0.3 point to 3.7% and in Mindanao by 1 point to 2.7% in December.

Break-ins also fell 1 point in Mindanao to 2.3% in December, but rose in Metro Manila by 1.3 points to 5.3%, in Balance Luzon by 1.6 points t o 3.3%, and in the Visayas by 2 points to 3.7%.

Despite lower 2017 averages, fear of burglaries rose Balance Luzon (10 points 64% in December), Metro Manila (2 points 70%), and Mindanao (2 points to 47%), and remained steady in the Visayas (52% in September 2017 to 53% in December).

Apart from the figures on street robberies, fear of unsafe streets fell in Metro Manila (10 points to 54% in December) and Mindanao (7 points to 35%), remained steady in the Visayas (52% in September to 53% in December), but rose in Balance Luzon (3 points to 51% in December).

The survey found that among the 4.6% who have been victims of street robbery, 52% are men while 40% are women. Among men, victimization by street robbery rose by 19 points from 33% in September 2017.

Among women, victimization by street robbery fell by 20 points from 62% in September. This brings the 2017 average victimization by street robbery among women to 50.0%, 2.7 points above the 47.3% annual average in 2016. This is the highest since the 52.5% annual average in 2006.

Still more men (61%) than women (11%) have been victims of physical violence, according to the survey. SWS said this has been the trend since March 2005, with the exceptions of June 2011 and September 2016.

Victimization by physical violence among men rose by 3 points from 58% in September 2017. On the other hand, the proportion of women victimized by physical violence fell by 19 points from 30% in September.

FAMILY SAFETY
The December 2017 survey found that 57% of Filipino adults nationwide said the safety of their family is better now compared to six months ago, 36% said it is the same as before, and 6% said it is worse now.

Compared to September 2017, those who said their family safety is better now increased by 7 points from 50%, those who said it is same as before was unchanged from 36%, and those who said that is worse now decreased by 8 points from 14%.

By area, the proportion of those who said their family safety is better now compared to six months ago is highest in Mindanao at 71%, followed by Metro Manila at 63%, Visayas at 59%, and Balance Luzon at 47%. It rose by 11 points in Visayas, 10 points in Metro Manila, 7 points in Mindanao, and 4 points in Balance Luzon.

By locale, it rose by 9 points among urban dwellers to 62% in December, and 6 points among rural dwellers to 53%.

By class, it rose by 12 points among class E to 52% in December, 6 points among class D to 58%, and 2 points among classes ABC to 51%.

By sex, it rose by 10 points among women ,to 58% in December, and 4 points among men, to 56%.

By age group, it rose by 15 points among 35-44 year olds, to 61% in December, 8 points among 45-54 year olds to 53%, 6 points among 25-34 year olds to 56%, 5 points among 18-24 year olds to 61%, and 2 points among 55 years old and up to 57% in December.

By education, it rose by 12 points among non-elementary graduates to 61% in December, 9 points among elementary graduates to 55%, 5 points among high school graduates to 58%, and 2 points among college graduates to 56%.

DRUG ADDICTS, CARNAPPING
The proportion of those reporting many drug addicts in their neighborhood fell by 12 points in Metro Manila, from 62% in September 2017 to 50% in December 2017. However, it rose by 3 points in the Visayas to 43% 3 points in Mindanao to 30%, and 11 points in Balance Luzon to 45%.

For three consecutive quarters since June 2017, none of the sample in Mindanao reported being victimized by carnapping. It was 0.8% in March 2017.

In contrast, carnapping in Metro Manila rose by 1.1 points from zero in September to 1.1% in December. Families victimized by carnapping also rose in Balance Luzon by 1.1 points to 1.5%, and in the Visayas to 1.8% in December after three consecutive quarters of zero reports from March to September.

The survey was conducted from December 8-16, 2017, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).

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