PNP chief: Ready to pick gloves hurled by Baste
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III will wait for acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte to appear for their boxing bout at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila this morning, even following reports that Duterte left for Singapore on Friday.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo made this assurance on Torre’s behalf on Saturday, after Duterte said on Thursday that he would only show up if President Marcos would order elected officials to take a drug test, including himself.
“Whether or not Mayor Baste shows up, the Chief PNP will be there,” Fajardo said on DzBB, without further comment on the relevance of Duterte’s new demand.
On Thursday, the 55-year-old Torre began training at Camp Crame for the supposed match and “many sponsors” have already pledged aid for flood victims if the event pushes through, Fajardo said.
Fajardo said the proceeds of the event, whether in cash or donations in-kind, will be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for distribution.
Challenge accepted
On Wednesday, the PNP chief accepted the fisticuff challenge of the 38-year-old Duterte, who was named acting Davao City mayor in lieu of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is under detention in the Netherlands.
The younger Duterte claimed in a podcast last Sunday that the acting mayor could defeat Torre in a fistfight.
Struggling with morale issues and a bid to restore public confidence in the PNP, Torre accepted the challenge and proposed that the showdown be turned into a charity event.
If Duterte does not show up, the pledged aid to flood victims will be distributed on the same day.
However, Duterte flew to Singapore on Friday, according to the National Bureau of Investigation. The Duterte camp said the trip was scheduled long before the fisticuff challenge.
The Davao mayor and the PNP chief have long been publicly trading punches.
When he was Davao Region police director, Torre reassigned 19 police station commanders associated with the Duterte family in July 2024.
Also, Torre was on the front lines during the police’s standoff with the Kingdom of Jesus Christ religious sect from August to September 2024 in its successful bid to arrest Apollo Quiboloy, an ally of the Duterte family, on two child sexual abuse cases.
Then as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director, Torre led the team that helped the International Criminal Police Organization serve the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against the elder Duterte in March.
