DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte lashed out at Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao) director Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III for disrupting peace and security in the region as he disclosed the police regional director’s previous controversies for his alleged political participation in Samar in 2018.
The documents circulating on social media revealed that the Samar Provincial Board approved a resolution declaring Torre, the Samar Police Provincial Office (SPPO) director during that time, “persona non grata” in a vote of six ‘yes,’ three ‘no’s,’ and one abstention, for his failure to curb criminality in Calbayog City.
Duterte immediately used this to express his sentiment over Torre’s current leadership which started on June 16, 2024, replacing Police Brigadier General Aligre Martinez who was relieved just 45 days after he assumed office.
"Kung professional ka tubaga ko. Kung dili ka propesyonal, hilom na dinha. Persona non grata, ulawa ana oy. Nge! Unya pag-abot diri, magtudlo-tudlo. Na-persona non grata ka kay tungod you are participating partisan political activities. Paghilom diha, wala kay angay," Duterte said in his “Basta Dabawenyo” podcast on August 5.
(If you're a professional, answer me. If you're not a professional, shut up. You have been declared as persona non grata, shame on you. Then when you come here, you boast of your knowledge. You're persona non grata because you're participating in partisan political activities. Shut up, you don't deserve it.)
Prior to this, Duterte said that Torre was jeopardizing the whole Davao population after he implemented changes in the police agency, particularly the reshuffling and reassignment of some police officers.
Duterte also urged Dabawenyo lawyers to step in and defend the more than 100 Davao police personnel for possibly facing administrative charges because of their alleged involvement in manipulating crime blotters, based on Torre’s “blue books”.
“Unsa diay ni? Sukad kaniadto pa na panahon gikan gubot ang Davao hantod sa [karon] giatik nato ang atoang kaugalingon on the way here?” (What is this? So it’s been a long time since Davao was in trouble and until [now] we're just fooling ourselves on the way here?),” Duterte said.
The mayor also clarified that even the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters in Camp Crame has already denied it was the one who gave orders for the 100 police personnel’s reassignment.
Torre was criticized for allegedly engaging in partisan political activity in Calbayog during the election period when he provided services only to a well-known political personality in the province of Samar. DEF