Manila, May 11 -- The Philippines' crime rate dropped by 12 percent during the first month of implementation of the anti-crime program "Safer Cities" initiative, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday.

Based on PNP data, a total of 2,684 focus crimes were recorded from April 6, when the campaign was launched, to May 6. This was lower than the 3,047 focus crimes recorded from March 6 to April 5, reflecting a decrease of 363 cases or 12 percent.

The eight focus crimes are murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, car theft, and motorcycle theft.

Notable declines were recorded in rape cases, which fell by 25 percent from 519 to 387 cases, and physical injury cases, which decreased by 24.3 percent from 489 to 370 c...