B. Peace and Order

Because of the province's relative isolation and inaccessibility during certain times of the year and the Ivatan's inherent nature as peace loving, gentle and with polite demeanour, Batanes has largely maintain its peacefulness, serenity and pristine beauty and has remained one of the few provinces in the country with low crime incidence/rate and with practically no case of rebellious/insurgency. Batanes crime incidence is only two (2) and as reported by the PNP, crime solution rate is 100%.

Police records show that most crimes committed in the province are petty crimes of mere family problems unlike those reported in other parts of the country.

Strong family ties/relationships with almost everyone known to one another inhibits most from wrongdoing in the community.

Resolution of Criminal Cases

Until recently, pending criminal cases had been a problem, especially after the regular Regional Trial Court Judge retired. We had to communicate with the chief justice of the supreme court and request for a replacement and fortunately, the honorable chief justice responded favourably, enabling our RTC Branch 13 to have a temporary Presiding Judge who shall be coming over regularly to make sure that justice is rendered for the benefit of all Ivatans involved and most especially cases involving foreign fishermen caught poaching within Batanes waters. We are hopeful that this development would speed up the process of resolving each cases in order that this perennial problem that has been very detrimental to the local fishermen's cause is dealt with expeditiously.

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