Faces of the News: March 16, 2025
Nicolas Torre III
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III oversaw the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on March 11, at the request of the Interpol and on orders from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The police official also led the the successful manhunt for controversial televangelist Apollo Quiboloy in Davao City in September last year. It was a long day for Torre, whose birthday fell on that same day that he had to get hold of Duterte upon his arrival from Hong Kong with his family and closest aides.
“I just would like to reiterate that … I don’t find joy in doing these difficult jobs,” Torre told a press briefing three days later. “I just want to emphasize that I did not do this for personal aggrandizement or for whatever reason.
I did it because I am the head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.” Before midnight of March 11, Torre managed to put Duterte on a chartered jet that would take him to The Hague, the Netherlands, where he was set to face trial for crimes against humanity over his brutal war on drugs. —FRANCES MANGOSING
Ronald dela Rosa
Former Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa once shrugged off the possibility of him being arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for orchestrating, along with former President Rodrigo Duterte, the brutal war on drugs that killed thousands.
But with Duterte now arrested to face trial in The Hague, Dela Rosa appears to be scrambling to avoid the same fate. Finally surfacing on March 12, a full day after Duterte was flown to the Netherlands on an ICC warrant, Dela Rosa said he felt “betrayed to the max” by President Marcos who had supposedly promised him that the ICC “would not touch a hair on [my] head.”
He also revealed plans to seek refuge in the Senate, with the blessing of Senate President Francis Escudero. Fellow lawmakers remind him, however, that under the Constitution, the Senate is only empowered to protect its members from arrest when in session. “But regardless, he should just do the right thing” and just face the music, went one advice from Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin. —KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING
Veronica Duterte
From promoting beauty products and showing her enjoying good times with friends, the Instagram account of Veronica “Kitty” Duterte quickly turned into a source of information for the media on the day her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was being arrested on orders of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Witnessing the operation, the 20-year-old Kitty posted Instagram stories—content that disappears after 24 hours—as the police tried to enforce an ICC warrant on the 79-year-old Duterte at the VIP Kalayaan Hall in Villamor Air Base.
She included updates on his state of health, claiming her father was being denied medical care while being held against his will. In one post, Veronica took a video of Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III as he was informing Duterte and his family and close aides about the chartered jet already waiting for the ex-president.
Veronica could be heard in the background, cursing out at Torre for not saying where the plane would take her father. She continued with another post the following day, showing the plane and claiming Duterte was “kidnapped” using the aircraft. —DEMPSEY REYES
Baby Ruth Villamara
“Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea,” the latest documentary by award-winning filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, has been pulled from the lineup of this year’s Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival.
The film chronicles the experiences of Filipino fishermen, Philippine Coast Guard personnel, and Navy officers as they conduct supply missions to Philippine outposts in the West Philippine Sea.
On March 12, Villarama released a statement—also signed by CinePanalo festival director Chris Cahilig—confirming that while the decision to withdraw the film was made jointly by the festival organizers and the filmmakers, “it is clear that external factors played a role in this outcome.”
When asked about speculation that the pullout was due to the film’s sensitive subject matter, Villarama stressed that there were no anti-Chinese statements in the documentary that could have led to its removal.
She also refuted rumors that the film was withdrawn so it could have a bigger festival or because it was unfinished. “I cannot lie because I’m in the business of truth-telling,” she said. —MARINEL CRUZ
Salvador Medialdea
Former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea served as counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte at the latter’s first appearance hearing, via video link, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands on Friday night.
Observers say Medialdea expectedly showed signs of inexperience before a judicial body like the ICC Pre-trial Chamber. Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc was winding down the proceedings, for example, when Medialdea asked whether he could present a “manifestation,” a common move in regular courts but not in the ICC.
But the tribunal (being “liberal” in nature, as described by international law experts), allowed Medialdea to proceed. It was here that he read out a statement claiming Duterte was “abducted” in the Philippines in order to be taken to The Hague, and that he was also supposedly denied legal remedies while in Manila, all in the name of political “score-settling.”
Duterte critics would later scoff at his “grandstanding,” with one outspoken detractor calling it an attempt to politicize the ICC proceedings. —KATHLEEN DE VILLA
