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He arrested a former President. Now, he leads the police. Police Major General Nicolas Torre III , the man behind the recent shocking arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been named the new chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). This is a dramatic shift at the very top of Philippine law enforcement. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin made the big announcement at a Palace press conference on Thursday. General Torre will take over the PNP on June 2nd . He replaces General Rommel Marbil, who is set to retire next year. Torre is no stranger to the spotlight. As head of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) , he oversaw many high-profile cases. This included the arrest of alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy. But his most talked-about action was surely the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte in March 2025. This was based on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. Duterte was then quickly sent to The Hague. This arrest alone cast a long sh...

  A whisper of doubt has become a roar of skepticism surrounding the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte. Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal has sounded the alarm, warning that time, not political maneuvering, may be the biggest obstacle to the case's success. "If the impeachment case against Sara Duterte starts being heard on June 2, that case is already dead," Macalintal said in a recent interview. The case, filed on February 5, alleges misuse of confidential funds and issuing threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. With 215 lawmakers endorsing the complaint, far surpassing the required one-third of the House, the case was expected to swiftly proceed to the Senate for trial. However, the transition has been stalled, and Senate President Francis Escudero's invitation to the House prosecution panel to present the articles on June 2 may be too little, too late. ...

The bombshell admission came like a thunderclap.  “We shot ourselves in the foot,”  said Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, campaign manager for the Alyansa alliance. His verdict? The push to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte wasn’t just a misstep—it was a  “self-inflicted wound”   that cost them crucial votes in Mindanao. “ The moment the impeachment hit Congress, Mindanao turned against us ,” Tiangco told radio DZBB. Voters, he claimed, abandoned Alyansa candidates to protect Duterte.  “They chose leaders who’d block her removal. We never saw it coming.” The numbers sting. Over 200 House members backed impeaching Duterte—the first VP in Philippine history to face such a trial. But Tiangco insists the move backfired:  “Why force it? The Senate won’t act until June. Now they blame ME for our losses?” “No Public Demand for Impeachment” Tiangco refused to sign the February 5 impeachment articles.  “This was avoidable,”  he argued.  “Who created thi...

  Allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte made a bold move on Thursday, attempting to file an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the House of Representatives. The complaint alleges that Marcos allowed the "illegal arrest and transfer" of Duterte to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, their efforts were thwarted when they were unable to file the complaint due to the Office of the Secretary General's unavailability. The would-be complainants, former party list Rep. Ronald Cardema and his wife, Duceille Marie Cardema , arrived at the Office of the Secretary General at 3:20 p.m. but were told that only House Secretary General Reginald Velasco could receive the complaint. Despite waiting until the end of business hours, they left without filing the complaint. According to the Cardemas, the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings state that a verified complaint for impeachment can be filed with the Office of the...

  Ombudsman Orders Remullas and 4 Others to Respond to Duterte Arrest Complaint In a shocking development, the Office of the Ombudsman has ordered five high-ranking government officials to respond to a complaint filed by Senator Imee Marcos' Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the legality of former President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court. The officials, including Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil, PNP-CIDG chief Nicolas Torre III, and Special Envoy for Transnational Crimes Markus Lacanilao, have been given 10 days to file a counter-affidavit . According to Marcos, her panel's investigation uncovered acts by these officials that "very likely constitute criminal and administrative offenses." The complaint alleges that the officials played a role in Duterte's arrest and transfer to The Hague, which may have violated Philippine laws and interna...

  The once-solid Marcos-Duterte alliance now stands fractured as former President Rodrigo Duterte fights for freedom from an ICC cell. His legal team's surprising new weapon? Senator Imee Marcos' own investigation findings. In a dramatic twist that has shocked the Philippines political landscape, lawyers defending former President Rodrigo Duterte have cited Senator Imee Marcos' Senate probe as crucial evidence in their challenge against the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction. The 38-page defense document reveals how quickly political alliances can crumble. Just months ago, President Marcos promised Vice President Sara Duterte that his government would "not assist the ICC, in any way, shape or form." Today, the former president sits detained in The Hague. "The jurisdictional framework of the Rome Statute is clear: A State must be a State Party at the time of the exercise of jurisdiction," Duterte's legal team argued in their May 1 filing...

  Duterte Lawyers Fire Back: ICC Jurisdiction Called into Question In a bold move, Rodrigo Duterte's defense team has fired a fresh salvo in the former president's battle against the International Criminal Court (ICC), challenging the tribunal's jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes against humanity linked to his brutal war on drugs. The 38-page document, filed with the Pretrial Chamber (PTC) 1, demands Duterte's "immediate and unconditional release," arguing that the ICC's probe lacks a solid legal foundation. Lead lawyer Nicholas Kaufman asserts that the prosecution has failed to justify the court's authority to examine alleged crimes despite the Philippines' effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019. "The prosecutor has never demonstrated that the court was legally authorized to exercise jurisdiction after the Philippines' effective withdrawal from the Rome Statute," Kaufman's team argued. This development raises...

MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed Tuesday she's been summoned to face prosecutors in a case that could shake the nation's political landscape. The summons stems from shocking statements where she allegedly ordered a hit on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Vice President revealed the development while in Southern Leyte, just hours after commenting on trafficking charges against her ally, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. "I also received a summons earlier today from the Office of the Prosecutor regarding the case filed against me by the National Bureau of Investigation," Duterte told reporters in Sogod. NBI Chief Jaime Santiago confirmed the subpoena relates to their February investigation into Duterte's alleged threat against the President. The agency filed incitement to sedition and grave threat charges after Duterte's startling admission during an online press conference. The controversy erupted when the Vice President publicly...