BATASAN, Quezon City — Amidst speculations of internal problems in the bureacracy, Mamamayang Liberal representative Leila Norma Eulalia Josefa De Lima is questioning President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s silence on the sudden removal of General Nicolas Torre III as the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

During a House committee on public order and safety briefing with the country’s law enforcement agencies, De Lima questioned why Torre, once the praised for leading the high-profile arrests of former President Rodrigo 'Rody' Duterte and religious leader Padtor Apollo Quiboloy, was suddenly axed for supposedly overreaching his authority.

More quizzical the party-list solon said is that “we have not heard from the president,” who Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said was “very fond” of Torre.

It was actually executive secretary Lucas Bersamin who signed the August 25 memorandum order that relieved Torre from his post and assigned Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. as Torre's replacement.

“There has been no statement really from the Office of the President or even through ES. Everything we’ve heard were from Remulla,” De Lima noted.

“I wouldn’t know whether we have to believe the official line behind the relief or the dismissal of the former PNP chief. Because the President himself has not spoken,” she added.

The neophyte legislator also found Torre's dismissal as paradoxical as she found that despite his unceremonious relief, Torre still supposedly enjoys the trust of the president, as Remulla enthused following Nartatez's oath-taking as officer-in-charge of the PNP.

“I’m confused about the official line. It’s about exceeding authority, but what exactly did he exceed?” she asked in reference to

Remulla's assertion that Torre exceeded his authority when he issued an order reassigning 13 PNP officials, including swapping the posts of Nartatez, then deputy chief for administration and the second-highest official, with Lt. Gen. Bernard Banac as Area Police Command Western Mindanao director.