Suspended Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, Jr. denied the claims of his impending return to the country “within the day.”
“Fake news ang balitang uuwi ako. Sana tinanong muna nila ako bago sila nagbitaw ng salita,” Teves said, following the statement of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday, May 16, saying the lawmaker might return home yesterday.
Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, Teves’ legal counsel, said his client had only one word as a reaction to the claims: “Heh?”
Topacio added the lawmaker intended to come home, although he did not know when.
“Ina-assure ko po kayo na kung siya man ay babalik sa Pilipinas ay hindi po namin itatago ‘yan,” he told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
“Bibigyan po namin kayo ng impormasyon na reliable, hindi ‘yung Marites,” he added.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives did not receive any confirmation on Teves’ possible arrival to the country.
“We cannot really speculate kasi wala pa tayong confirmation that he is really returning today or any day for that matter,” Reginald Velasco, the lower house’s secretary general, told reporters yesterday.
Velasco said the House of Representatives is ready to provide Teves with protection once he returns to the country.
He added that Teves’ younger brother, former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves, told the House he had no word about his brother’s arrival.
For its part, the Philippine National Police said they are also ready to provide security protection for the lawmaker.
In March, Teves was served a 60-day suspension for his continued absence in the House and refusal to return to the country citing safety concerns, following the expiration of his travel authority to the United States.
He was tagged as the alleged mastermind in the Pamplona massacre last March 4, which killed Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine others.
Teves repeatedly denied any involvement in the killings.
Frustrated murder complaints filing ongoing
Remulla said yesterday the filing of multiple complaints by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Teves is now ongoing.
“It’s ongoing right now. The NBI is here already. I was told by [NBI] Director Medardo de Lemos that they were coming over to file the complaint,” Remulla said in an ambush interview.
Multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, and multiple attempted murder would be filed against the lawmaker, he said.
NBI personnel were seen yesterday morning at the Department of Justice, carrying boxes of documents for filing murder complaints against Teves.
A panel of prosecutors was expected to receive the documents, Remulla said. / With reports from ABS-CBN News, GMA Integrated News / WDJ