How Safe Is Cavite?

Cavite is an attractive place to live in for many reasons. The province has been an economic hub for a long time, making it an excellent alternative to Manila for Filipinos from less urbanized areas seeking decent and stable employment. Being one of the top beneficiaries of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, it is poised to attract more investors and produce more white-collar jobs shortly.

When it comes to housing, the country’s Historical Capital is synonymous with affordable real estate. Buying a house and lot for sale in Cavite area offers more value for an average Filipino’s money than purchasing a condo in the metro.

However, the province also had a bad reputation for being a dangerous place decades ago. Its rise to prosperity has somehow erased its past negative image. How safe is Cavite now? Let us find out.

Crime Rate Is Moderate

Based on last year’s data Philippine National Police, no Cavite municipality and city ranked in the list of places with the highest crime rates in the country for the first four months of 2018. Naga topped the ranking, followed by Mandaue, Pasay, Iloilo, Cebu, Makati, and Mandaluyong. In the list of places with the lowest crime rates, no Cavite municipality and city made it either.

A PNP spokesperson admitted that the crime rate is not exactly the most accurate measurement of a place’s safeness. It is merely a calculation of how many individuals fall victim to a criminal for every 100,000 persons. In other words, the lower the population of a location, the more significant percentage of its residents become victims of murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, theft, robbery, motor mapping, and carnapping.

Based on this logic, the great population size of Cavite decreases your chances of becoming a news headline for the wrong reason.

Crime Volume Is on the Decline

According to the PNP again, the province saw its crime volume dropped by 44.65% in the first half of 2018 compared to the number over the same period in the year prior. This statistic means there were far fewer cases of murder, homicide, rape, theft, and robbery, physical injury, carnapping, and cattle theft reported from January to June of 2018.

Furthermore, the number of criminal cases filed in January and February 2018 increased. The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office received 330 more cases than it did in the same period in 2017. Although the office only handles cases filed from all of the province’s municipalities and the City of General Trias, its jurisdiction still covers a significant portion of Cavite. The increase in lawsuits filed may be equal to the renewed confidence of the local citizens in the authorities.

The most significant factors in these findings are the province’s relentless drives against criminality and lawlessness. The Cavite Police Provincial Office reigned as the leader in illegal drugs operation in Calabarzon in 2017 and the first six months of 2018.

Wherever you live, common sense is your best defense. Cavite is arguably no longer among the most dangerous places in the Philippines anymore, but it is not crime-free, just like the rest of the country. If you exercise due diligence, you can quickly narrow down the safest neighborhoods in the province to buy a house.