As a police officer, Nicolas Torre III has heard enough of kill threats and repeated encouragement to violate the police operational procedures in the name of peace and order.

That’s not what he had in mind when he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a cop, and certainly not something that is taught in the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) where he graduated from.

Now a Major General and heading the PNP’s top investigating command, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Torre took matters into his own hands when he heard the same “jokes” again by filing complaints against his former commander-in-chief, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte.

“The speech was long but there are portions with unlawful utterances, and what I want to emphasize in general is the inciting to sedition. I enumerated it in my complaint yung puro na lang patay patay (about the killings),” said Torre, referring to the case he filed before the Department of Justice.

“That’s really unlawful even before, but nobody dared to call him out because he was the president then. Now that he is no longer president, he must be reminded that he should know his place in the scheme of things,” said Torre, who is also from Mindanao.

The cases filed were violations of Article 154 (Unlawful Use of Means of Publication and Unlawful Utterances) and Article 142 (Inciting to Sedition) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by R.A. 10951, in relation to Section 6 of R.A. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

In the complaint, Torre sought for case build up and evaluation by the National Prosecution Service, against Duterte over his kill remark against incumbent senators during the conduct of the proclamation rally of PDP at the San Juan Arena in San Juan City, Metro Manila on Feb. 13, 2025.

For Torre, nothing really happened despite the tough talks of Duterte during his six-year administration.

In fact, he said how the enforcement of the law was done under the Duterte administration is continuously causing trouble until now, citing the Quad-Committee investigation on the alleged widespread extra-judicial killings and human rights abuses especially in the conduct of drug war.

“His term ended but nothing really happened. They could not even justify, all they did was denial when they were investigated by the Congress,” said Torre.

And what apparently pissed Torre off was that the policemen who were allegedly encouraged by Duterte’s tough talks are now suffering for "taking the jokes seriously"—some are in jail, some were dismissed from the service and now jobless, and some are still facing criminal and administrative charges.

‘Nagdusa’

In November last year, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil disclosed that a total of 214 policemen are still facing criminal and administrative charges from the operations carried out from July 2016 to June 2022.

"Many officers endured not only physical harm but also found themselves entangled in legal and administrative challenges. While the promise of support was made, many officers continued to face consequences largely on their own,” said Marbil.

He said around 195 officers were dismissed over the six-year period, and a total of 398 facing dismissal for various reasons.

Over 20 of these policemen, according to Marbil, are currently languishing in jail.

Enough is enough

The policemen who are now suffering after being encouraged to go beyond the bounds of the police operational procedures and of the law appeared to be another motivating factor for Torre to file a case.

“(He said) ‘Bahala na pumatay. I don't care about human rights, I care about human lives’. Eh namatay si Kian delos Santos, na-convict ang mga pulis. Nasaan ngayon ang pangako na siya ang bahala? (Then Kian delos Santos died and policemen were convicted, where was his promise that he would take responsibility?),” said Torre.

“So ito na naman ngayon, pasabugin natin ang Senado, patayin natin ang 15 senador. Paano kapag may gumawa niyan? Siya ulit ang bahala? (And now let’s bomb the Senate, let’s kill 15 senators. What if somebody is encouraged to do it? He would take full responsibility again?).”

“It’s time that we hold these people accountable, we hold this person accountable for what he has been saying, it’s not a joking matter,” said Torre.

Palace hands?

Torre dismissed rumors that the filing of the case against the former president was orchestrated by the Palace amid the ongoing political rift between the Duterte and Marcos camp.

“I don’t think Malacanang should get involved in this because this is pure law enforcement. Police are law enforcers and we are seeing violations of the law,” said Torre.

He also denied that he was urged by the PNP leadership to file the complaint.

“I do believe that this is within the mandate of CIDG, thus, I made the decision but I informed our Chief PNP, I informed the higher-ups of this action. I made an official report,” said Torre.

Former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier downplayed the cases filed by Torre: "The grave threats complaint he and his agency have filed against FPRRD is dismissible in the prosecutor’s office outright for utter lack of legal basis and for being ludicrous as well.”