President Marcos has appointed Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief, Police Major General Nicolas Torre III as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.
CIDG chief Torre is new PNP chief
Published May 29, 2025 03:32 pm
New PNP Chief Police Major General Nicolas Torre III (Santi San Juan)
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced on Thursday, May 29, Marcos' decision to appoint Torre, who oversaw two high-profile police operations leading to the arrests of Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy and former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Torre will be replacing outgoing PNP chief police general Rommel Marbil. He will officially take the helm of the PNP on June 2, Bersamin said.
Despite being a two-star general, Marcos still chose Torre. Bersamin said this decision of the President should be respected.
"You know the appointment of elements or the officers of the PNP has to be kept confidential. We should respect that confidentiality but it's the President's discretion, which I consider to be absolute because he is actually the—you cannot consider that commander-in-chief kasi civilian 'yan—pero more or less ganun," Bersamin said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.
"No one can question the use of that discretion. Call it inscrutable but right now, the considerations that weighed in the choice of General Torre should be respected," he stressed.
Overseeing two big police operations—Quiboloy and Duterte arrests—could be among the factors that the President considered in naming Torre as the new Police chief, Bersamin said.
"Hindi ko masasabi 'yan dahil alam mo si Presidente (I cannot say that because you know the President) always demands performance. Kahit na ano yung pinagawa sa'yo (No matter the task), you must exhibit some high-degree level of performance. Maybe that is one, I am not going to discount that," Bersamin said.
"But there maybe other qualities of General Torre that he might have considered in comparison to the qualities of those others who were not given this responsibility," Bersamin added.
'Torre will be there until the end'
Asked if the position was considered a reward to Torre for the two recent successful operations, Bersamin said "it was given on merit."
"Alam mo lahat ng promotion reward 'yan 'no (You know, all promotions are considered a reward). But most promotions are given on merit. So, let us assume that this was given on merit because, you know, it was not an easy decision on the part of the President," the Palace official said.
"He considered, to my recollection, five names. And you must probably have an idea of who those five were. But as of this time, the decision was already made and it favored Police Maj. Gen. Torre. By the time he accepts this appointment, he will have the four stars," he added.
The Executive Secretary also does not believe that Torre's appointment will demoralize the entire police force, pointing out that they are all professionals.
"Bakit naman? Palagay ko naman hindi, dahil professional yung hanay ng mga kapulisan (Why? I believe they won't be demoralized because the entire police force is professional). They're all very great professionals, they are very decorated individuals. So, they just follow what the commander-in-chief or what the President desires," Bersamin said.
"Look at it this way, all PNP chiefs serve at the pleasure of the President, whether they have a term or not. If the President wants to terminate them, he could do that. But let us just expect that General Torre will be there until the end. That's all I can say, (he) will be there performing his best up until the end," Bersamin added.
Torre is the first Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) graduate to be appointed as PNP Chief. He entered the police force after graduating from the PNPA in 1993.
He ranked fourth out of the 90 cadets of the PNPA in 1993.
Torre has three master’s degrees, one in Public Administration at the Philippine Christian University, Business Administration at the International Academy of Management and Economics and Educational Management at the Samar College.
Torre held various positions in the police force across the country, including chief of police of Mabalacat, Pampanga and Batangas City, and provincial director of Samar province, and even chief information officer of the Police Regional Office 4A, or Calabarzon.
As Quezon City Police District Director, Torre successfully implemented the three-minute response, the same strategy that he wants to employ in Davao Region and led to the sacking of a number of police commanders for failure to adopt.