Based on the data from the Police Regional Office-Cordillera, almost three-fourths (73.5%) of the crimes committed in 2008 were index crimes (i.e., murder, robbery, physical injury, theft and rape). Only 26.4 percent of all offenses perpetrated in the region were non-index crimes (i.e., estafa, illegal drugs, libel, gambling, etc.).

The bulk of the index crimes in the region were committed against persons (57.1%) with more than half of these as physical injuries (55.5%). Murder and rape still posed a serious concern with 18.0 and 17.1 percent respectively. Among the 360 reported cases of crimes against property, which comprised 42.9 percent of all index crimes, 59.7 percent was theft while 40.3 percent was robbery.

Of the total number of index crimes in CAR, more than half were recorded in Baguio City followed distantly by the Province of Benguet. The Province of Apayao reported the lowest share with only a 2.3 percent of the total (see Figure 1).

The concentration of murder incidents in CAR was seen in Abra which accounted for 60.5 percent of the number of all murder incidents regionwide. Meanwhile, of the total 82 cases of rape reported, 23 took place in Benguet followed by Ifugao (18 cases) and Baguio City (17 cases).

Regarding crimes against property, Baguio CIty accounted for a hefty 74.7 percent of all robberies and thefts in CAR. Apparently, the city not only attracted tourists but was the favorite destination of thieves and robbers in 2008 as well. (18 cases) and Baguio City (17 cases).

With regards to crime solution efficiency, the region was able to solve 86.2 percent of the total crimes. However, the police authorities only managed to solve 4 out of 10 (25.6%) of all index crimes committed in 2008.

This October 2009, the nation celebrates the 20th National Statistics Month with the theme: “Enhancing Security Sector Statistics for Good Governance, Peace and Sustainable Development”. In general, the observance of this event has two-fold objectives, viz: (a) to promote, enhance, and instill nationwide awareness and appreciation of the importance and value of statistics to the different sectors of society, and (b) to elicit the cooperation and support of the general public in upgrading the quality and standards of statistics in the country.