PNP chief Torre no longer open to another match with Baste Duterte
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III was declared the winner by default in his boxing match against Acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte, who failed to show up at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on July 27, 2025.
[Updated July 27, 2025, 2:07 p.m.]
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III has ruled out the possibility of another boxing match with acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte, saying Duterte’s statements no longer carry any “logic.”
Torre made the remark after being declared the winner by default in their scheduled charity match on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, where Duterte failed to appear.
“I have a lot of work and this is not worth responding to,” Torre told reporters on Sunday when asked if this would be the last time he would accept Duterte’s challenge.
“As you can see, we exerted a lot of effort in this event. I don’t think he is worth responding to at this point. We should just let him be in his own world,” he added.
READ: Gen. Torre wins by default in boxing match with Baste Duterte
The PNP chief also said Duterte’s decision to skip the match cast doubt on the mayor’s credibility.
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I wonder what kind of supporters he has, knowing he doesn’t stand by his word. We will not align ourselves with those he deceives,” Torre said.
Despite Duterte’s earlier announcement that he would not attend the charity event, Torre said the PNP went ahead with the match, stressing that aid for those affected by the southwest monsoon and recent cyclones could no longer be delayed.
“Well, as policemen, we are also frontliners and we see the ordeal that affected citizens face, that’s why when the [acting] mayor issued that statement, we saw it as an opportunity to raise funds outside the government resources,” he explained.
“The aid needs to be rolled out; it cannot wait. We can no longer wait for his schedule. What we will follow is the schedule of our countrymen,” Torre also said. /mcm /mr
