VP Duterte unsure if Torre’s removal was ‘karma’

Vice President Sara Duterte said she was unsure if the removal of Police General Nicolas Torre III as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was "karma."

"Hindi ko kasi masabi kung karma ba yun o hindi eh, kasi Diyos lang naman kasi talaga ang makakapagsabi kung ano yung karapat-dapat para sa isang tao," Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday, 28 August.

The Vice President also believed that what happened to the former PNP chief was just a part of his life's journey.

"Siguro part lang yun ng journey niya sa buhay niya. Sometimes, nandoon ka sa taas, and then 85 days later, nandoon ka sa baba. Ganoon," 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.

Also a former chief of the Police Regional Office 11, Torre 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He has been replaced by Police Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.

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

"Dapat kontrolado ng President yung budget. Dapat kung ano yung lumalabas sa budgeting system from the Regional Development Council, paakyat sa National Development Council, paakyat sa Cabinet level at kung ano yung napag-usapan based on development plans, yun ang nasasunod," she said.

"Dapat alam talaga ng Pangulo kung ano yung laman ng budget. Pangalawa diyan, dapat hindi pumapayag ang Pangulo na pakialaman ng legislators ang budget. Dapat alam niya kung ano nangyayari. Pangalawa, dapat hindi niya --- hindi siya pumapayad na pinapakialaman ng legislators ang budget ng gobyerno," the Vice President added.