MANILA, Philippines - Police have arrested more than 40,000 people wanted for various crimes in the last 2 years, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Nicanor Bartolome said Monday.

Bartolome made the announcement in a report he gave to President Benigno Aquino in a command conference at Camp Crame.

The PNP chief said the 40, 653 people were nabbed based on arrest warrants issued by the courts for their alleged involvement in various crimes.

Bartolome, in his report to Aquino, also underscored police accomplishments against criminals since 2009.

He said that from a total crime volume of 502,665 cases in 2009, only 246,958 cases were recorded in 2011.

This indicates a steady decline crimes with an average monthly decrease of 3.57% until the end of 2011, he added.

Bartolome said measures to prevent and control crime include increases police visibility in crime-prone areas and better crimefighting capabilities of police units.

He also presented the results of an ongoing nationwide campaign against carjacking that showed a decrease over a 2- ear period.

Police records showed 1,903 car theft incidents and 2,200 in 2010, down to only 966 in 2011.

Bartolome attributed the decrease to interdiction and market denial operations for the resale of stolen cars and car parts, as well as the recent neutralization of a major criminal syndicate responsible for almost 20% of carjacking cases in the country.

Bartolome told the President that crimes involving motorcycle-riding suspects are a major concern, with 2,487 cases in 2010 and 2,960 cases in 2011.
Most of such crimes happened in Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Metro manila.

Police operations against motorcycle-riding criminals yielded 1,047 suspects, with 920 arrested and 127 others slain.

Bartolome said data for January 2012 showed a 20.01% reduction in total crime volume, compared with the same period last year.