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.

Index Crimes Year Philippines National Capital Region (NCR) 78.0 90.6 97.0 90.9 90.0 89.0 80.1 81.9 359.3 233.8 Outside NCR 44.1 49.2 45.6 45.3 46.1 41.7 36.1 34.5 322.6 215.8

Non-index Crimes National Capital Region (NCR) 68.1 96.0 103.0 75.7 69.0 78.5 75.6 73.0 164.1 115.0 Outside NCR 46.7 46.0 42.3 36.4 34.0 27.5 26.2 27.8 225.5 221.0

Total Crimes National Capital Region (NCR) 146.1 186.6 200.1 166.6 158.9 167.5 155.8 154.9 523.4 348.8 Outside NCR 90.9 95.2 87.9 81.7 80.1 69.2 62.3 62.4 548.1 436.8

Philippines

Philippines

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

48.5 54.6 52.1 51.1 51.6 47.8 41.8 40.4 327.1 218.0

49.5 52.4 50.1 41.4 38.4 34.1 32.6 33.5 217.9 208.0

98.0 106.9 102.2 92.5 90.0 82.0 72.9 73.9 545.0 426.0

President Fidel Valdez Ramos (1993-1998)

A series of high profile crimes during this period, including the murder of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, created public impression that heinous crimes were on the rise. The Ramos administration reimposed the death penalty by virtue of Republic Act No. 7659 in December 1993 to address the rising criminality and incidence of heinous crimes. The Death Penalty Law lists a total of 46 crimes punishable by death; 25 of these are death mandatory while 21 are death eligible. Republic Act No. 8177 mandates that a death sentence shall be carried out through lethal injection. President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1998-2001)

Leo Echegaray was executed in February 1999 and was followed by six other executions for various heinous crimes. In 1999, the bumper year for executions, the national crime volume, instead of abating, ironically increased by 15.3 percent or a total of 82,538 (from 71,527 crimes in the previous year). Estrada issued a de facto moratorium on executions in the face of church-led campaigns to abolish the death penalty and in observance of the Jubilee Year. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-present)

Arroyo publicly stated that she is not in favor of executions. Due to the rise in crimes related to drugs and kidnappings that targeted the Filipino-Chinese community, she announced that she would resume executions to sow fear into the hearts of criminals.

Arroyo lifted the de facto moratorium issued by Estrada on December 5, 2003. Even as executions were set to resume on January 2004, this did not push through by virtue of a Supreme Court decision to reopen the Lara-Licayan case. Since then, the administration has been issuing reprieves on scheduled executions without actually issuing a moratorium. With the amendment of Republic Act No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997) and Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs act of 2002), there are now 52 capital offenses, 30 of which are death mandatory and 22 are death eligible.