“PERFORM well.”

This was the directive of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to newly installed acting Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Director Colonel Thomas Joseph Martir over the weekend.

Martir, formerly the director of Zamboanga City Police Office, replaced Colonel Manuel Placido, his classmate at the Philippine National Police Academy batch 1995.

Placido’s almost a year stint was marred with unresolved killings.

He was transferred to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Explosive and Ordinance Disposal Unit.

Aside from performing police work, Leonardia said he expects that Martir will also help the city government in the fight against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Echoing the reminder of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas Director Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, the mayor said the police should be the muscle in the fight against Covid-19.

Martir earlier said his focus is to increase police visibility, as well as to boost the campaign against illegal drugs and other forms of criminality.

He is also preparing to secure the city as the 2022 polls are nearing.

For his part, Miranda believes that Martir will deliver a “better service” to Bacolod because “he grew up here, he is familiar with the place, he speaks the dialect and he has a love for the BCPO."