DESCRIBING him as a mere attack dog, Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte said the appointment of PNP Director General Nicolas Torre III did merit a mention when he visited his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at the latter’s detention cell in The Hague.
General Torre assumed office as the PNP’s new chief on June 2, 2025.
On Wednesday, June 4, 2025, Torre responded to Duterte’s questioning of his appointment by stating, “It goes back to him. The first PNP chief of his father was a one-star.”
He was referring to Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who held the rank of one-star general when he was named PNP chief by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Rewind-rewind lang nang kaunti sa termino naman ng tatay niya, kung sino ang unang chief PNP. Ano ang ranggo ng unang chief PNP at ano ang ranggo ko bago ako naging chief PNP? It goes back to him. Seriously speaking, it goes back to him. The first chief PNP of his father was a 1-star na naging automatic 4-star. Did he question that?”
In a sharp rebuke, Duterte stated, “I would admire this person (Torre) if he did everything with due process. Technically, if you talk about the case or review what happened—what transpired during that time, yung ginawa kay FPRRD, with KOJC, and lahat—he was only handpicked there by the administration because he is an attack dog, nothing more than that.”
Torre led the team that arrested the elder Duterte upon his arrival from Hong Kong and forced him to board a private jet en route to the Hague to face the crimes against humanity case filed before the International Criminal Court in relation to his war on drugs during his term as the president.
Also, Torre led the police in the arrest and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound siege last year. Pastor Apollo Quiboloy later surrendered and is now detained on child trafficking, among other charges.
