MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) chief Maj. Gen. Nicholas Torre III on Thursday dismissed the threat made by former President Rodrigo Duterte upon his arrest.

Torre, who was one of the authorities who conducted the arrest of the former president, said he was unfazed by Duterte’s remarks.

According to Torre, Duterte threatened him by saying, “My children will go after you” following his arrest shortly after deplaning at the airport, where authorities served the warrant.

“It doesn’t affect me much because right now, I have very, very good insurance plans,” Torre said during the Rotary Club of Manila’s 27th weekly membership meeting.

He also clarified that the arrest was not politically motivated and that he was merely following orders from his superiors in law enforcement, not from the president.

‘The outcome was great’

When asked about how law enforcement handled the arrest, Torre described the outcome as “great.”

“The physical contact was very minimal. Nobody got really seriously hurt, except [former Executive] Secretary [Salvador] Medialdea,” he said.

Medialdea was arrested and handcuffed for alleged obstruction of justice during Duterte’s arrest.

According to Torre, Medialdea attempted to block Duterte from boarding a chartered plane bound for the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.

Torre added that Medialdea challenged him to carry out the arrest, prompting him to read Medialdea his rights before arresting him for violating Presidential Decree 1829.

Contrary to online claims circulating after the arrest, Torre also denied that Duterte was handcuffed.

Duterte was surrendered to the ICC on March 12 after being arrested by Philippine authorities. He is currently in the Court’s custody and made his initial appearance on March 14. Pre-Trial Chamber I has provisionally scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing to begin on September 23, 2025.