SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon said the peace and order situation in the country is much better now than last year, judging from his first, 100 days in office.

“I’m fortunate to reap the rewards of good police work with your help,” said Calderon during a program that installed Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil as new regional director of Police Regional Office I.

He said as compared to the same period last year, crime volume decreased by 8.39 percent while street crimes declined by 42 percent. At the same time, kidnapping was reduced by 50 percent and drug cases went down by 52 percent.

For the same period, carnapping incidents decreased by 48 percent and bank robbery is down by 67 percent.

“All these, we were able to accomplish together as we continue to adopt and institutionalize effective mechanism to counter crime and lawlessness, in partnership with local government leaders and the community at large,” Calderon said.

At the same time, Calderon announced that the PNP housing programs in three separate areas of the country had already broken ground. These are located in Batangas, Cagayan de Oro and Bicutan in Taguig, Metro Manila.

Thanking the PNP regional housing boards for these, Calderon said more houses are still to be built to provide the housing needs of PNP personnel and their families.

“These may not be enough to brag about but is definitely a clear sign that we’re on the right track towards attaining our vision as a truly transforming Philippine National Police,” he said.