A Manila court has acquitted former lawmaker Arnolfo Teves, Jr. and two others in a 2019 murder case involving a Negros Oriental board member.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 acquitted Teves, Richard Cuadra and Rolando Pinili “for failure of the prosecution to establish a prima facie case.”

Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said the acquittal “is a vivid demonstration that the cases filed against Mr. Teves are nothing but harassment suits meant to persecute a political opponent.”

“It also shows how the Department of Justice has been weaponized for the purpose of vexing the critics of government. We are fortunate, however, to have found a fair and impartial tribunal that has proven itself truly independent and impervious to political pressures,” Topacio said.

“There are many more battles left to fight for truth and justice. In this, we shall never waver until the last of these groundless suits are dismissed. For indeed, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.”

Teves still faces separate murder charges in connection with the 2023 attack that killed then Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine others.

Degamo had been distributing aid at his home in Pamplona when six people carrying rifles and dressed in military fatigues entered the compound and opened fire on March 4, 2023.

The killings came months after Degamo was declared winner of a disputed vote, unseating Henry Teves, the ex-lawmaker’s brother.

Arnolfo Teves was expelled from the House of Representatives after refusing to return to the Philippines to face murder charges.

Teves was detained at a driving range in Dili in 2024, but a Timorese court blocked his extradition.

In an abrupt turnaround in 2025, Timor-Leste deported Teves, saying his continued presence represented a security risk. (ABS-CBN News / Agence France-Presse)