Former PNP Chief Nicolas Torre III (left) with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during last June’s change of command at Camp Crame, Quezon City. Malacañang has relieved Torre as chief of the Philippine National Police, according to a document signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. The relief took effect “immediately,” per the papers dated Aug 25, 2025. - Photo: Inquirer
MANILA: Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima on Wednesday (Aug 27) questioned President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s silence on the sudden removal of Gen. Nicolas Torre III as the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.
During a House committee on public order and safety briefing with the country’s law enforcement agencies, De Lima questioned why Torre, once the toast of the town for leading the high-profile arrests of former President Rodrigo Duterte and televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, was suddenly axed for supposedly exceeding his authority.
More puzzling, she said, is that “we have not heard from the president” who Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said was “very fond” of Torre.
The Aug 25 order to relieve Torre was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who also issued the same memorandum naming Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1992, to replace Torre.
“There has been no statement really from the Office of the President or even through ES. Everything we’ve heard were from Remulla,” De Lima said.
“I wouldn’t know whether we have to believe the official line behind the relief or the dismissal of the former PNP chief. Because the President himself has not spoken,” she added.
De Lima also found it paradoxical that despite his relief, Torre still supposedly enjoys the trust of the president, according to Remulla.
“I’m confused about the official line. It’s about exceeding authority, but what exactly did he exceed?” she added.
It was also Remulla who said that Torre exceeded his authority when he issued an order reassigning 13 PNP officials, including swapping the posts of Nartatez, then deputy chief for administration and the second-highest official, with Lt. Gen. Bernard Banac as Area Police Command Western Mindanao director.
Nartatez and Banac are members of the PMA “Tanglaw-Diwa” class of 1992.
In response, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) issued Resolution No. 2025-0531 on Aug 14, directing Torre to recall his order.
The Napolcom also noted that the designations and reassignments of third-level officers—ranging from colonel to general, all presidential appointees—require confirmation by the commission en banc, where Remulla, as DILG chief, serves as ex-officio chair.
De Lima grilled Napolcom Vice Chair Rafael Calinisan on the legality of this reversal, noting that the two laws that govern the PNP – Republic Act No. 6975 and RA 8551 – does not state that the commission could reverse personnel movements made by the PNP chief.
“The closest I could see here is Section 14, Paragraph 6, which says the commission could ‘affirm, reverse or modify, through the National Appellate Board, personnel disciplinary actions involving demotion or dismissal from the service imposed upon members of the Philippine National Police by the Chief of the Philippine National Police…I don’t think it’s the one applicable here,” she said.
“A law is superior over resolutions or circulars,” she added. “Please convince me that Napolcom was perfectly in its powers when it reversed the actions of the former police chief.”
Calinisan maintained that the reversal was perfectly legal, saying that the implementing rules and regulations for RA 6975 states that the commission’s administrative control over the PNP “shall encompass, but is not limited to, the promulgation of policies and standards, plans and programs, the review, approval, reversal, or modifications of plans and programs relating to personnel.” - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
