‘What impact will this have on the degree of loyalty our PNP officers will show to the President of the Philippines, who serves as Head of State?’
THERE’S never a dull moment in the Philippines. Just as the public was beginning to absorb the reality that floodwaters are the result of Mother Nature mixed with the Mother of all Corruption Schemes, here comes a (smaller) bombshell: the Chief PNP, Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III, was relieved, effective immediately, of his position after not even a quarter of a year in office.
This is the very Nicolas D. Torre who shot to prominence (or notoriety, depending on which side of the political divide you are) for leading the charge on two very sensitive operations.
The first, of course, was the apprehension of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the self-appointed son of God, for years untouchable as he ruled from his kingdom in Davao. Quiboloy was a difficult case to handle. Not only could he surround himself with thousands of passionate followers invoking the name of God at every turn, but there was also the fear that touching him would provoke an earthquake, or a tsunami or some other God-induced calamity, because who could forget how he warned Vice Ganda that he would have ABS-CBN shut down?
And if no other PNP official had dared do it, Torre was ready, willing and able, earning the respect of Malacanang and a permanent “X” mark behind his back from followers of PACQ.
As if that was not enough, the second and even more sensitive operation that Torre took charge of was the arrest of former President Duterte at the Manila airport earlier this year and his subsequent transport to the Netherlands. Once again, Torre was there, firmly carrying out his sworn duty of upholding the law irrespective of who the offender was, and against a considerable blowback from that portion of the population that thought it was not the right thing to do, for different reasons.
But Torre did it.
And so it was not a surprise that despite being only a one-star police general, Torre leapfrogged over many officers of higher rank to be named Chief PNP and earn an additional three stars – the same way one senator also rose to become the Chief PNP during the Duterte years. So the manner by which he rose from one star to the four-star rank of chief was not unprecedented. But what was in many ways unprecedented were the two operations he led on behalf of the government and in furtherance of applying the rule of law.
But now he has been sacked. The reason being whispered about is that as Chief PNP, Gen. Torre bypassed the established procedures for leadership promotions which require going through the National Police Commission and the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government. These procedures are in place, we are told, to ensure that civilian authority will always be supreme over the police authority as enshrined in our Constitution. This is such a fundamental principle of a democracy that no violation by anyone can be brooked. (We don’t violate Constitutional principles here the way Donald Trump does in the United States – but I digress.)
If indeed this divide over appointments of key officials of the PNP is at the heart of the ouster of Torre, then that is unfortunate.
But if it isn’t, then it makes me worry. What impact will this have on the degree of loyalty our PNP officers will show to the President of the Philippines, who serves as Head of State?
If a police officer of whatever rank finds himself in a sensitive situation that he has to carry out his duties as a police officer out of loyalty to the President and the people, will he still do it with full trust and confidence in the support of those whom he is serving?
Or will he waver, thinking that he could suffer the same fate as Gen. Torre after dutifully and loyally carrying out his duties without heat or favor?
In this Game of the Generals, so much more than the top position is at stake. Even the ability to demand and expect loyalty from every man and woman throughout the PNP organization is on the line.
