Police Regional Office 11 Director Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III clapped back at Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, daring him to file a complaint if he thought the police chief was lying about the mayor's manipulation of police reports.
"If I lied in something official, that is perjury, and that can be filed in court," Torre said. "So, file in court against me, dahil iyan ay isang criminal offense. Tanong niya sa tatay niya (because that is a criminal offense. He can ask his father)."
In response to Duterte's remark regarding his professionalism, he told reporters he had just come forward with "facts."
"I just presented facts, okay? So kung sa tingin niya ay kasinungalingan, file-an niya ako ng kaso (if he thinks it's a lie, he should file a case against me)!" he was adamant.
Torre said politics is inextricable from public governance, and relented that the mayor does have to uphold an image for the public.
"Public governance is politics eh, diba? So hindi po talaga mawala 'yun ... Kailangan niyang magpapogi sa kanyang mga constituents. He has to do what he has to do," he said.
("Public governance is politics, right? So politics cannot really disappear ... He needs to make sure he looks good to his constituents. He has to do what he has to do.")
"But as far as I'm concerned, I'm just doing my job," he held firm. "I would like to believe na I'm doing the right thing."
Duterte had previously labelled Torre a "professional liar," calling into question his professionalism, over the latter's statement that Duterte had manipulated Davao City police reports so that crime rates appeared to have gone down in the area.
