Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves (File photo)
MANILA – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said the legal process to formally designate Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves as a fugitive terrorist has been initiated as he criticizes the latter’s refusal to return to the country and face accusations of his involvement in a series of high profile murders.
“Ang tao kasing guilty iiwas talaga yan. Kahit ano pa sabihin nya, humarap sya. Kung wala siyang kasalanan, humarap siya (A person who is racked by guilt will not come out in public. Whatever he claims if he is not guilty, he should come out. If he is as innocent as he claims, he should face the accusations),” Remulla said.
"Gumagalaw na (It is now moving). We’re moving on it .We’re starting the preliminary movements. Yung mga kailangan kausapin kinakausap na (We have already talked to those whom we need to talk with)," he said
Remulla said the government’s latest plan to bring the lawmaker back to the country may proceed even if the latter has not yet been formally charged in connection with the March 4 murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, which also claimed the lives of eight others and dozens injured.
He said the pending charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives is sufficient to buttress the government’s plan to designate him as terrorist.
Criminal charges in connection with the deaths in Negros Oriental dating back to 2019 has also been filed against Teves who was a key backer of online cockfighting in the country, which was legal at the time.
Remulla said information they received as to sightings of Teves in Korea may be plausible but the information suggests the lawmaker regularly shuttles back and forth to Cambodia.
“Yung huli sabi I think reliable yung information ni Sen. [(Joel] Villanueva, nasa Korea pero pag ganun babalik-balik siya ng Cambodia (I think information declared by Sen. Villanueva that Teves is in Korea is reliable. It shows that Teves goes back and forth to Cambodia)," Remulla said, adding that moving about in ASEAN-member countries do not require a visa.
Teves has denied involvement in the Degamo deaths and claims he fears for his own safety as his reason for refusing to go back to the Philippines.
A private lawyer of the Degamo camp says Teves’ men are also linked to at least 60 other deaths in the province. (PNA)
