President Marcos has revealed that the reason for General Nicolas Torre's removal as the chief of Philippine National Police (PNP) was due to his "disagreement" with the National Police Commission (Napolcom).

"It was because they didn’t – he would not… He did not agree with the directives that were coming out of Napolcom," Marcos said in an interview in Phnom Penh, Cambodia before returning to the country on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

"And there is a very clear chain of command that the civilian authority is the overwinning authority when it comes to the police. Because the police is essentially – technically a civilian organization. And Napolcom is the civilian authority that has the authority to monitor," Marcos added.

"It has powers – very specific powers in terms of the appointments, and that’s why they disagreed. And we cannot – you know alam naman natin uniformed service ‘yan kailangan masundan ang chain of command (you know that's uniformed service chain of command must be followed). So, that’s why," the President stressed.

Marcos bared he had "many discussions about it" with Torre beforehand, but the latter strongly refused to do it.

In his latest podcast aired on Tuesday night, Marcos also talked about Torre's relief where he quoted Torre saying: I don't agree with what they do.

"Hindi talaga sila magkasundo ng Napolcom. Talaga sinasabi niya (He and the Napolcom cannot really agree with each other. He really said): I don't agree with what they do," Marcos said.

"E, pinapaliwanag, nag-uusap nga kami. Sabi ko, hindi, sabi ko may chain of command ‘yan, e, that's the civilian authority. Hindi mo puwedeng hindi-an ‘yan. Sabi niya, 'hindi ko talaga kayang gawin' (I explained it to him, we talked. I said that's chain of command, that's the civilian authority. You cannot say no to that. He said, 'I really can't do it')," Marcos further said.  

The President said he told Torre he will relieve him, to which the general replied: What can I do?

"I think he was also like a good commander. He was protecting his people," Marcos said.

Although Marcos relieved Torre, he said he did not lose confidence towards the former PNP chief.

He was even considered to be appointed to a new position, which has yet to be revealed since his removal from the PNP top post. There have been rumors that Torre will be included in the independent commission tasked to investigate flood control anomalies, but there has been no confirmation from the Palace.

Marcos during the podcast was also cautious in answering whether Torre will indeed be part of the probe team.

"Abangan ang susunod na kabanata (Wait for the next chapter)," the President only said.