Vice President Sara Duterte said she was not sure if Police General Nicolas Torre III’s firing as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was just his comeuppance.

“I cannot say if it was karma or not, because only God can say what is truly deserved by a person,” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, the other day.

The Vice President said what happened to Torre may be part of his life’s journey.

“Maybe it was just part of his journey in life. Sometimes you are up there, and then 85 days later you are down. That’s how it is,” she said.

Torre, a former chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, led the arrest of Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity for the alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration’s war on drugs.

A former chief of Police Regional Office 11, Torre also led the arrest of Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in 2024 in Davao City over charges of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.

He has been replaced by Police Lt. General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in an order signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, sacked Torre on 25 August, National Heroes Day, for refusing an order of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to withdraw his reassignments of over a dozen PNP officials.

Following a memorandum from Napolcom calling the reassignments illegal, Torre announced during a flag ceremony at PNP headquarters in Camp Crame that the reshuffle would remain in effect.

Receiving the support of PNP regional directors, it seemed that Torre had stood up to Napolcom, which is chaired by Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Pundits said Torre overvalued his worth to the Marcos administration and came out on the losing end of his turf war with Remulla.

Solons, leave budget alone

Meanwhile, Duterte said congressmen should not be allowed to interfere with the government’s budget, stressing that the President should have control over it.

“The budget should be controlled by the President. Whatever comes out of the budgeting system—from the Regional Development Council, to the National Development Council, to the Cabinet level—and whatever is agreed upon based on development plans, that is what should be followed,” she said.

“The President should really know what is in the budget. Second, he should not allow legislators to interfere with the budget. He should know what is happening, and second, he should not allow legislators to meddle with the government’s budget,” Duterte said.

The Vice President, along with her brothers, Davao Acting Mayor Sebastian and Rep. Paolo Duterte, and half-sister Kitty were in The Hague to visit their father.