The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday murder cases went down by 7.98 percent,or 554 cases for January to August this year.

The latest data from the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) said

murder cases, which were 6945 on January to August 2016, declined to 6391 for the same period.

"The DIDM director (Director Augusto Marquez Jr.) also said murder incidents nationwide went down due to PNP’s intensified campaigns and focused actions against criminality, corruption, and illegal drugs", the PNP statement saaid.

The PNP said theft, the " most prevalent crime" has "significantly declined" from 35,736 cases on January to August 2016 to 24,825 cases in the same period.

It said murder trend "ramped up" to 1,265 cases before President Rodrigo Duterte assumed his position compared to 803 cases from June to July 2016. Alanna Ambi/DMS