Remulla: Teves is still in Timor-Leste

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed on Wednesday that expelled Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. is still in Timor-Leste awaiting the decision on his appeal on the denial of his request for asylum.

Remulla said Teves filed his plea before Timor-Leste's Court of Appeals, and the decision is still pending.

«Once this is denied, he will be deported to his port of origin (the Philippines),» he said in an interview.

Remulla said that Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta was not happy about Teves being in his country. «He is not very pleased that [his country] is being made as the refuge of somebody who is accused of terrorism.»

He said he did not discuss the merits of the Teves case with Ramos-Horta, who visited the Philippines earlier this month.

«We did not talk at length, because it was not proper to talk about the merits of the case,» Remulla said.

Teves, who was designated as a terrorist in August by the Anti-Terrorism Council, was tagged as one of the masterminds in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and 10 other individuals.

Last September, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 51 Presiding Judge Merianthe Pacita Zuraek issued a warrant for the arrest of Teves, who is also facing multiple murder charges in Negros Oriental in connection with a series of killings in the province in 2019.

Teves was expelled from the House of Representatives early in August for his continued pursuit of political asylum, which lawmakers deemed tantamount to abandoning his public office; his long absence, which was not allowed as he was authorized to go on a medical trip only from Feb. 28 to March 9, 2023; and his indecent behavior when he uploaded on social media a video of him dancing while wearing only his undergarments.