Torre’s PNP retirement and what this means for Nartatez’s 4-star rank

After months of being a floating officer, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Nicolas Torre III has retired from the police service.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, who oversees the PNP, confirmed to Rappler the former police chief’s retirement.

After his success in the high-profile arrests of former president Rodrigo Duterte and alleged sexual offender Apollo Quiboloy, Torre ascended in the PNP’s roster and became PNP chief in May 2025.

But less than three months into Torre’s term, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sacked him.

The DILG did not give a categorical answer as to why Torre was removed in 2025, but this happened after the former PNP chief’s controversial appointments in the police service, which both the DILG and the National Police Commission had condemned.

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What Torre has now done is to avail himself of early retirement. Fifty-six is the retirement age for cops and the former PNP chief will reach this age only by March 11, 2026.

Section 40 of the DILG Act states that police officers or personnel can opt for retirement if they have already accumulated at least 20 years of satisfactory active service. Torre has been in service for over 30 years already.

Finally, 4 stars for Nartatez

Marcos’ removal of Torre as chief created complications.

When Torre was sacked, he was only removed from his position as the top cop, but his four-star rank remained with him. Position is different from rank.

Marcos immediately promoted Torre’s former no. 2 man, then-police lieutenant general Jose Melencio Nartatez, as PNP chief. But Nartatez remained a three-star rank general because Torre held the four stars.

By PNP tradition, it’s the PNP chief who holds the four-star rank that comes with the title of police general. This is stated in section 29 of the DILG Act of 1990. And there can only be one police officer with a four-star rank.

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Following Torre’s retirement, Nartatez is now expected to assume the highest rank in the coming days or weeks. Remulla told Rappler that the four-star rank will be accorded to Nartatez next week.

What happened?

Torre’s retirement finally solved the four-star rank complication in the PNP.

When Torre was sacked, the option for the Marcos government to solve the problem was for the police general to retire from the service ahead of his supposed retirement. But this would not give Torre anything, except for a hefty retirement pay.

So this was when the supposed “offers” for Torre surfaced. On the same day Torre was removed, Remulla said that Malacañang was eyeing another post for him, without specifying which position exactly.

Remulla even said earlier that Torre’s acceptance of the supposed position would pose a win-win scenario for the offices concerned. And this is precisely what happened.

In December, Marcos named Torre general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. Days later, in January, the former PNP chief was also named the agency’s spokesperson. – Rappler.com