Franco named acting PNP spokesman; Tobias now Roxas top police aide

Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Franco. JULLIANE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net

Erstwhile spokesperson of the Philippine National Police Senior Superintendent Bartolome Tobias is now the Senior Police Assistant of Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

Effective on Monday, Tobias would be assigned at the PNP Liaison Office as Senior Police Assistant to the Secretary of Interior and Local Government.

Tobias was named as spokesperson and PNP Public Information Office (PIO) chief last April 27.

READ: PNP names anti-illegal drugs task force head as new spokesman

Replacing Tobias is Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Franco, formerly assigned at the PNP Directorate for Police Community Relations.

“Franco is designated as OIC PIO in concurrent capacity pending availability and designation of a permanent PIO chief,” the PNP PIO said on Wednesday.

But sources said Franco will be in an OIC capacity until Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor formally assumes office on the third week of June.

Mayor was PNP spokesperson from September last year until January but was relieved when he was reassigned as the deputy chief of the Directorate for Intelligence.

READ: PNP spokesperson Wilben Mayor relieved

Mayor and Tobias are both members of the Philippine Military Academy “Sandiwa” class of 1985.

Prior to his brief stint as spokesperson, Tobias previously held the top post at the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Task Force as its chief. IDL