By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Congratulations are in order for the new PNP Chief, Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr., but instead of a “hurrah!,” what greets this most ostentatious occasion in his career is a big, fat “why?”
Of course, the question has little to do with him, as it does with his high-profile predecessor, Gen. Nicolas Torre III, who is likely to go down in history as the shortest-serving PNP chief.
He barely warmed his seat at Camp Crame, clocking only 85 days before being shoved aside by Malacañang. Now, the President absolutely has the constitutional and traditional prerogative to appoint — and disappoint — his Cabinet and uniformed leaders. That’s not in dispute.
But what rattles both police ranks and the public is the Marcos penchant for drama, intrigue, and abrupt plot twists.
What should have been a routine exercise of executive authority turns into a political telenovela, feeding a rumor mill that thrives on speculation and conspiracy theories. Fine entertainment for netizens, perhaps — but a lousy way to run a government.
Is there a new place for Torre in the post vacated by the very able NBI Chief, who just resigned his post in the bureau? Are we looking at him taking the helm of the very corrupt DPWH? That’s how desperate netizens have been speculating about what’s next for Torre, who meteorically rose through the ranks by just being the most vaunted Duterte nemesis this year.
Officially, Malacañang’s script is that Torre was relieved for disregarding Napolcom’s resolution over his internal revamp, a supposed breach of protocol. Yet Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla himself clarified that Torre committed no crime, no violation, and faces no case.
Instead, he was even offered a “possible new government post” because, allegedly, the President still values his experience. If that is true, then why the unceremonious axing? Why humiliate a decorated officer who helped bring Quiboloy to justice and served an arrest warrant on Duterte?
This is where the arrogance of power stings the most. The Palace hides behind the phrase “pleasure of the President,” as if public service were some private dinner party where guests can be shown the door without explanation. But these are public offices, funded by taxpayers, and every Filipino has a right to know why its top cop was removed in the middle of his mandate.
It is galling that this same administration drags its feet on officials mired in billion-peso scandals — like the DPWH secretary swimming in ghost flood-control projects — yet wastes no time in ejecting a police chief who, by all accounts, was working within his mandate.
So congratulations to Gen. Nartatez. But the real headline here isn’t his assumption — it’s the big, unanswered “why” hanging over Torre’s relief. And until Malacañang stops playing coy with the truth, every new appointment will look less like decisive leadership and more like presidential caprice.
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