Karma? VP Sara reacts to Torre being sacked as PNP chief

"Diyos lang naman kasi talaga ang makakapagsabi kung ano yung karapat-dapat para sa isang tao.”

(Because only God can really say what is right for a person.)

This was the response of Vice President Sara Duterte as she was asked about her thoughts on the removal of Police General Nicolas Torre III—the same cop who led the arrest of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte—as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). 

The Vice President said she was unsure if what happened to Torre was karma.  

"Hindi ko kasi masabi kung karma ba yun o hindi eh," she explained.

(I can't say if it's karma or not.)

Duterte, however, said that what happened to the former top cop may just be a part of his "life's journey."

"Sometimes nandoon ka sa taas, and then 85 days later, nandoon ka sa baba,” Duterte said.

(Sometimes you're at the top, and then 85 days later, you're at the bottom.) 

Duterte is currently in The Hague, Netherlands to visit her father.

As former chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Torre led the arrest of her father, resulting in his eventual transport to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March.

Before the Duterte patriarch was flown to the Netherlands, Torre admitted that he denied the request to allow Sara Duterte to see her father. He said he told the former president that her daughter could only visit him once he is put in a detention cell in The Hague.

As Police Regional Office 11 chief, Torre also led the capture of Duterte ally, Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder, Apollo Quiboloy last year in Davao City over charges of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.

The Vice President previously expressed apprehension when Torre was appointed as PNP chief in June, saying the move was “too sketchy.” 

Torre has been replaced by Police Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier denied allegations that Torre was removed from his post after he rejected a supposed gun purchase proposal of Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Remulla on Tuesday said one of the reasons Torre was relieved as PNP chief was his defiance to an order of the National Police Commission on the reassignment of key officials.

He also said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is considering the former PNP chief for a government position. —VAL, GMA Integrated News