Torre reminds Baste: Your father appointed a one-star general as PNP Chief

Metro Manila, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Nicolas Torre III fired back at Davao City Vice Mayor-elect Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who earlier claimed Torre's appointment as police chief bypassed the merit system.

In a press briefing at Malacañang, Torre called out Duterte’s criticism by pointing to the political history of the Duterte family itself—specifically former President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to appoint then one-star general Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as PNP chief in 2016.

“Rewind a bit to his father’s term. The Chief PNP of his father, a one-star general, became an automatic four-star general. Did he ask that? Did he question that?” said Torre in Filipino.

The comment came in response to Duterte’s May 30 remarks questioning Torre’s sudden rise from his previous post as head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

“The government now is not based on merit, look what happened. You have a PNP chief who jumped three ranks to become PNP chief,” Duterte said at the time.

A brigadier general holds a one-star rank, while the rank of PNP chief carries four stars. Torre was a Police Major General, with a two-star rank, before his appointment as PNP chief by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., replacing outgoing chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil.

Torre recently led high-profile operations, including the arrest of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, on charges related to human trafficking and sexual abuse.

But more significantly, on March 11, Torre oversaw the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The former president faces crimes against humanity charges in connection to thousands of extrajudicial killings during his administration's bloody war on drugs.

Torre's appointment as PNP chief came weeks later, raising questions from Duterte allies about the political motivations behind his promotion. However, Torre insists that his actions were lawful and part of due process.

“I respect the opinion of the Vice President and the opinion of everyone regarding the things we’ve done during the arrest of Mr. Duterte and his eventual transfer to The Hague,” Torre earlier said in response to Vice President Sara Duterte’s criticism.

Torre emphasized that the case will be addressed in “the proper forum”.