In our column yesterday we wrote about the seemingly unwelcome assumption of Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III as Director of the Regional Police Office XI. The reason as we had earlier expounded, is because the first acts that he did as the new PNP regional chief were all suspected of following a baton from someone up there.
Yes, with the boiling enmity between former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and incumbent Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the groups aligned with or sympathetic to the former President suspect that Torre III is chosen to carry out orders from the incumbent to execute schemes of getting back at his Davaoeno predecessor-turned-vicious critic.
Despite Torre’s denial that his acts are part of political harassment on the local government leadership and acknowledged Anti-Marcos, Jr. pillars in FPRRD and Vice President Sara Duterte, his actions somehow betrayed the denied motive behind his initial moves.
However, if the possible role of the rift between the Duterte group and that of Marcos, Jr. we can be easily convinced to agree with Torre’s assertion that all he did are part of the normal process in running the police organization.
Thus, in the same column item yesterday we were sort of giving the PNP XI director an idea how he could possibly do away with the Davaoenos’ mistrust of him and how he could earn their confidence and respect as the PNP regional head.
We intimated that for him to earn a place in the hearts and minds of Davao leaders and people General Torre III needs to do some kind of “miracle” in the discharge of his duties and responsibilities as the region’s top policeman.
Then, over the last three or four days the PNP Region XI director has undertaken certain actions that we feel could either make or unmake his relationship with Davao leaders, city residents, or even with members of his own organization who have been serving the PNP in this southern metropolis.
We are referring to his order to review and validate the entries in the Davao City police crime records in all the stations, and his decision to “revisit” the results of the investigation process and look into the current status of two celebrated cases in Davao City.
The decision of Torre III to have the police blotters in all the stations validated may not sound acceptable to the Davao City police officials especially those who were once assigned as station commanders. The order to validate is indicative of the PRO XI director’s suspicion on the correctness of the number of crime incidence in the city before his assumption.
Thus, it may negatively impact on the city’s accolade as “Most Peaceful and Livable City” in the Philippines, an award given several times during the terms of Torre’s preceding regional police directors.
But if in the validation process Brig. Gen. Torre III will be able to unearth or prove that indeed there were “doctorings” done by a few devious members of the police force, then highlighting the authenticated misdeeds and implementing appropriate corrective measures may open a door or two towards the Davaoenos’ appreciation of the police regional chief.
On General Torre’s second initiative to revisit what he called as two “cold cases” the likelihood is that he will be doing a long-awaited favor for both the families of the victims and one or two of the suspects who may be unfairly languishing in jail.
The first “cold case” that Torre wants to be looked unto is that of the disappearance for several months now of one Justine Mae Saldua, a young woman working as house help of a police officer’s family. The official was then a station chief. The subsequent investigation on the case as pleaded by the victim’s family resulted in the implication of the police officer as one “person of interest.”
Now the official is held at the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit. According to Torre himself, for now he is not aware that criminal cases have been filed against any suspect.
Meanwhile, the second “cold case” that the PRO XI chief wants to have its investigation output reviewed is that of the brutal rape-slay of Calinan lady architect Blanche Marie Bragas. While certain suspects were arrested in the Bragas case, the first one was wrongly picked up and detained. Another was killed by the police while he was reportedly served the warrant for his arrest.
Two other persons suspected of having aided in the commission of the crime against Bragas were reported abducted and remain missing until now. Relative to the Torre III’s order to review the Bragas case, the spokesperson of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) disclosed during a press conference that last June 5, 2024 a rape-with homicide case was already filed against the suspects and with the filing the Bragas case was considered “officially closed.”
Depending on the outcome of the revisiting of the “cold cases” and how Torre would make the Davao City leaders and the people appreciate his efforts on ferreting out the truth, then may be it could be one stepping stone towards the Regional Police Director’s acceptance and earning him the needed respect.
The outcomes of these Torre initiatives could well be the “miracles” he badly needs in these his somewhat “uncomfortable” early days as PRO XI head.
