Despite facing stiffer sanctions from the House of Representatives, murder suspect and Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. on Monday said he has no plan to return to the country despite the recantations of the suspect-witnesses in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.
In a virtual press briefing, Teves said the only thing that would convince him to come home is when he sees a “semblance of fairness” from those investigating Degamo’s death.
He added that the serious threats to his life were reason enough not to return.
“With or without recantations, there is still a threat to my life and there is still no semblance of fairness,” Teves said in Filipino. “Again, what I’m only asking is a semblance of fairness, then most probably I will come home.”
The House Committee on Ethics is set to decide on Teves’ standing after his 60-day suspension ended on May 22.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Felimon Espares of the NATCCO party-list group, is considering a call to expel Teves from the chamber for his failure to return to the country despite repeated calls for him to do so.
The committee is expected to announce its decision and put it to vote in a plenary session on Wednesday, May 31.
This developed as Teves’ legal counsel, Ferdinand Topacio, expressed dismay over the Department of Justice’s pronouncements against the congressman, who is the suspected mastermind in the Degamo killing.
Topacio said the DOJ has already prejudged Teves’ supposed involvement in the death of Degamo.
The lawyer also denounced the move of the House ethics panel not to allow Teves’s camp to participate in hearings unless Teves attended physically.
Espares on Monday said his committee had decided to impose a “stiffer penalty” on the absent congressman, but would not say what this would entail.
The panel held a closed-door meeting Monday to decide Teves’ standing in the House.
Article VI, Section 16 of the 1987 Constitution provides the House the power to penalize its members for disorderly behavior. The penalty ranges from a reprimand to suspension to expulsion.
Rep. Jil Bongalon of Ako Bicol party-list group and the committee vice chairperson, did not discount the possibility that the next sanction against Teves could be expulsion.
But Bongalon was quick to say that no decision on it has been made.
On March 22, the House voted to suspend Teves for 60 days over his continued absence despite an expired travel authority.
The government has tagged Teves as the mastermind in Degamo’s murder, but he has denied involvement in the killing.
Teves remains outside of the Philippines as he faces murder raps over three deaths in 2019 and the assassination of Degamo, his political rival, and 10 others.
