MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking, Philippine officials said Tuesday.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He will be replaced by another senior police general, Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. who assumed the top post Tuesday.
In a letter to Torre made public Tuesday, Bersamin informed him of his immediate removal as national police chief on orders of Marcos and directed him “to ensure the proper turnover of all matters, documents and information relative to your office.”
Torre was not immediately available for comment.
Ahead of his removal, Torre reportedly had differences with government officials over the national police chief’s decision to remove more than a dozen police officials from their posts, including Nartatez. The National Police Commission ordered the reinstatement of the police officials to their posts this month but that was apparently not immediately done.
“He did not violate any laws, he has not been charged criminally or administratively, it is simply a choice of the president to take a new direction for the national police,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said without elaborating in a news conference when asked why Torre was removed.
Marcos and Torre had a “wonderful and productive relationship,” Remulla said, but he added without elaborating that “we are a country of laws and not of men, that the institutions must be larger than the people who run it.”
Only the president can specifically answer why Torre was removed, Remulla said. It's not clear if Torre would be offered another government post.
Just a few days ago, Torre demonstrated to Marcos a new anti-crime battle room in the national police headquarters where officers could rapidly communicate by two-way radio and other communications system to respond to any law and order problem in five minutes or less.
In March, Torre led the chaotic arrest of Duterte at Manila’s international airport and his handover to International Criminal Court detention in the Netherlands for his deadly antidrug crackdowns. Duterte, who ended his six-year presidential term in 2022, has been accused of a crime against humanity for the brutal campaign against illegal drugs when he was in office and which left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead in police-enforced crackdowns that alarmed the United States, other Western governments and human rights watchdogs.
Duterte has denied ordering the executions of drug suspects but has publicly threatened to have suspected drug traffickers killed while he was a longtime mayor of southern Davao city and later as president.
Last year, Torre oversaw the arrest of Philippine religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, a key Duterte supporter who was placed on the FBI’s most-wanted list after being indicted for sexual abuses and trafficking of underage girls in the U.S. Torre, then regional police chief of the southern Davao region, led thousands of policemen who confronted large numbers of Quiboloy’s followers opposing the religious leader’s arrest in his vast religious complex in southern Davao city.
Quiboloy and his lawyers have denied the charges.
Quiboloy has been locked up since then in a metropolitan Manila jail for three criminal cases similar to his cases in the U.S., which Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said has sought his extradition.
Incoming Philippine National Police Officer in Charge Police General, Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. takes oath during assumption of command ceremony after the removal of former chief Police General Nicolas Torre at Camp Crame, police headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Incoming Philippine National Police Officer in Charge Police General, Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., second from right, and Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. stand in front of an image of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, left, and relieved police chief General Nicolas Torre, right, during assumption of command ceremony at Camp Crame, police headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
FILE -Philippine police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III gestures as he answers questions during a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines at Camp Crame, Quezon City, Philippines on July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
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The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.
The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants.
The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday.
▶ Read more about the administration and AI-driven power shortages
The Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has brought heightened attention to a key drama that will play out at the central bank in the coming months: Will Powell leave the Fed when his term as chair ends, or will he take the unusual step of remaining a governor?
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but because of the central bank’s complex structure, he has a separate term as one of seven members of its governing board that lasts until January 31, 2028. Historically, nearly all Fed chairs have stepped down from the board when they’re no longer chair. But Powell could be the first in nearly 50 years to stay on as a governor.
Many Fed-watchers believe the criminal investigation into Powell’s testimony about cost overruns for Fed building renovations was intended to intimidate him out of taking that step. If Powell stays on the board, it would deny the White House a chance to gain a majority, undercutting the Trump administration’s efforts to seize greater control over what has for decades been an institution largely insulated from day-to-day politics.
▶ Read more about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs after lawmakers let subsidies expire.
The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit. Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for the tax credits that had helped lower monthly premiums for many people.
Trump’s plan also focuses on lowering drug prices and requiring insurers to be more upfront with the public about costs, revenues, rejected claims and wait times for care.
Trump has long been dogged by his lack of a comprehensive health care plan as he and Republicans have sought to unwind former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act. Trump was thwarted during his first term in trying to repeal and replace the law.
▶ Read more about Trump’s health care plan
Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn’t leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
▶ Read more about Trump’s renaming efforts
Nearly a year into his second term, Trump’s work on the economy hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump’s first term and what they’ve gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.
Just 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.
At the same time, Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of the president’s leadership on immigration — even if some don’t like his tactics.
There is little sign overall, though, that the Republican base is abandoning Trump. The vast majority of Republicans, about 8 in 10, approve of his job performance, compared with 4 in 10 for adults overall.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive conversations.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as the markets appeared to take note of President Donald Trump’s shifting tone as a sign that he’s leaning away from attacking Iran after days of launching blistering threats at Tehran for its brutal crackdown.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday maintained that “all options remain on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
▶ Read more about Trump and Iran
— Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Ben Finley
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to honor the 2025 Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
