Mayor Benitez challenges Bacolod cops to do better

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has challenged the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) under newly designated acting city director, Col. Noel Aliño, to do better in ensuring peace and order in the city.

“Maybe there are areas (in) which you are misinterpreted, or (some people are) misinformed, or (with) different perception. That should be a challenge to do better and to make sure that people bring back their trust and confidence,” he said.

During the turnover of command held on Tuesday afternoon, Benitez told the new BCPO chief, who succeeded Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, that the “challenge is to adhere to the highest excellence because that is what the people want.”

On Monday in a press conference, the mayor raised alarm over a series of incidents, wherein severed human body parts have been found in certain areas of the city, the latest of which was a right hand discovered along a road in Barangay Bata on the same day.

“It’s not good enough to be performing. It has to be beyond the performance the people expect,” he added.

Benitez acknowledged that in a highly-urbanized city like Bacolod, “a lot of work” needs to be done, but he assured the BCPO of the city government’s support.

“We will be a strong partner. We will be behind you, all of you, to make sure that you will have enough resources and logistics to be able to deliver,” he said.

Aliño, a former provincial director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office, said he still needs to know the background of unsolved cases so that he can focus on them.

“The only solution there, the number one crime deterrent is the presence of the police officer. We need to solve the previous cases but as much as possible, we will concentrate on crime prevention and control,” he said.

Unified Response System

Meanwhile, Mayor Benitez said the city government also plans to establish a unified response system between the local fire, police, and disaster response units for efficient delivery of services in times of emergency and during crime incidents.

“We have planned since last year to unify, to cluster the fire, police, and disaster risk reduction and management office into one complex and to share the assets and resources among them for a more efficient response team,” he added.* (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)