Police Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. replaced relieved Police General Nicolas Torre III as the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla said on Tuesday.

Torre III was relieved from his post through a memo date August 25,2025 issued by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin upon the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Bersamin said the memo was made effective immediately, but no reason was stated why Torre was removed.

Barely two months and three weeks ago, when Torres assumed the PNP top post replacing retired Police Major General Rommel Francisco Marbil last June 2.

Torre III became the 31st PNP chief and 4^th under the Marcos administration.

He became the first alumnus of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to lead the police organization.

Torre would have had around one year and seven months left to serve as the PNP chief before reaching the retirement age on March 11, 2027.

The relief of Torre came after the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) issued a resolution reversing and modifying the appointments made by Torre.

Issued on August 14, NAPOLCOM’s Resolution 2025-0531 had directed the return of Police Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez as Deputy Chief for Administration and Police Lieutenant General Bernard Banac as commander of the Area Police Command (APC) Western Mindanao.

They switched positions earlier this month.

The NAPOLCOM also ordered the PNP to immediately issue corresponding orders with regard to the movement of 11 more officials.

Torre thereafter said the PNP and NAPOLCOM have resolved the issue over the recent reshuffling of police officials. He however refused to provide specifics on how the agreement was reached.

He was the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief who led the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his transport to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands on March 11 to face charges of crimes against humanity case in connection with his administration’s war on drugs.

As Police Regional Office 11 (PRO 11) chief, Torre led the capture of Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy on September 8, 2024 in Davao City over charges of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.