Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Monday said the department is studying the possibility of classifying Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. as a “terrorist” to force him to surrender.
Teves, who is believed to be hiding abroad, has been implicated in the killing of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.
The Senate Committee on Public Order started an inquiry Monday on the series of political killings nationwide, based on the resolution of Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros.
Among those who attended the hearing were Pamplona town Mayor Janice Degamo, governor Degamo’s widow; former Negros Oriental governor Henry Teves, the brother of Representative Teves; Remulla; Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the committee chairman, said Teves had been invited to the hearing.
Mayor Degamo objected to Teves’ participation through video conferencing, saying he is considered a “fugitive.”
At the start of the hearing, dela Rosa announced that “there is a unanimous agreement not to allow the virtual presence of Congressman Teves.”
He cited “legal issues” that could arise, one of them the requirement that Teves must be personally sworn in before being recognized as a resource person or witness.
“In relation to this, the committee should have jurisdiction over his person in instances where the committee will cite him in contempt or issue a subpoena duces tecum, absent that, the committee cannot implement such order or decision,” dela Rosa said.
It was Remulla who explained that the circumstances surrounding the killing of Degamo fell under the Anti-Terrorism Law.
“In this case, the activities that led to the killing [of governor Degamo] on March 4 are all covered under the Anti-Terrorism Law, [such as] the recruitment [of assassins], the financing, the purchase of firearms, [and] the distribution of firearms,” he said.
As a solution to the “impasse” over the surrender of Teves, “we are looking at designating him or proscribing him as a terrorist, to have him proscribed by the CA (Court of Appeals) and designated by the Anti-Terrorism Council because of the acts that happened,” Remulla said.
“That is really the intent — the proscription and the designation to be our goal further down the road because if the person will not surrender, then we will have to make the world smaller for him and that is the purpose of the Anti-Terrorism Law is that the whole,” Remulla said.
“We were reading through the law, and we found it to be the most applicable in this case for a person who has not surrendered, and I think we are on the way there already,” he said.
“Everything that transpired [in the Degamo killing] actually has terrorism in it,” he said.
“However, when cases were filed individually, we could not file an anti-terror case immediately because it takes a lot of legal theory and a lot of research to prove a terrorism case,” he said.
“And we are afraid right now that if we immediately file a terrorism case based on the crimes that transpired, it may prejudice other convictions that may be secured easily with the same punishment for multiple murder,” Remulla said.
Hontiveros urged Teves to come home to face the charges against him. “Sir, to reassure everyone, I hope you will appear here at our hearing physically and not virtually,” the senator said.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said the lawyers of resource persons are not allowed to stand in for their clients who cannot attend the Senate inquiry.
“The legal counsel should only be there to give advice to the resource person,” Ejercito said.
Sen. Francis Tolentino said the Senate investigation on the Degamo assassination is not meant to dilute the investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
“We do not want to dilute whatever findings the DoJ, the DILG are up to or pursuing,” Tolentino said, adding that the committee will understand if these agencies want to stop their presentation or refuse to answer questions from senators.
During an interview on Zoom with his lawyer Franklin Topacio Monday afternoon, Teves described as “laughable” the suggestion of Remulla to classify him as a terrorist.
“Paano ka magiging terorista kung hindi ka pa nga nakakasuhan (How can you be classified as a terrorist when you have not been charged yet)?” he said.
He reiterated his assurance that he will return to the Philippines only when it is safe for him to do so.
Teves said he fears he could be the victim of “foul play” and that “the threat to my life is true.”
Last March, the House of Representatives suspended Teves for 60 days “for disorderly behavior” after failing to report to the House even after his travel clearance had expired.
During the Senate hearing, Sen. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva said his friends had told him they spotted Teves dining at the Lotte Restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.
Reacting to Villanueva’s claim, Justice Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano 4th said the department has received a lot of information on the whereabouts of Teves.
“We get information from the many sources we have. Our only plea is that he come home and answer the charges against him,” said Clavano in a message to reporters.
Remulla has claimed that Teves was in Cambodia.
Clavano also said the DoJ is considering to have Teves deported back to the country.
“It’s a possibility,” he said.
(By Bernadette E. Tamayo, Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino and William B. Depasupil | Manila Times)