House expels Teves in 265-0 vote; Topacio: Dark day for rule of law

The House of Representatives voted 265-0 with three abstentions on Wednesday to expel Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who is facing a string of charges in relation to the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.

Rep. Felimon Espares of COOP-NATCCO, chair of the House committee on ethics and privileges, reported in a plenary session the 18-page report detailing Teves’ offenses, ranging from his expired travel authority to his “obscene dance moves” on social media.

Through his lead counsel, Ferdinand Topacio, Teves on Wednesday lamented the decision.

“Today is a dark day for the Rule of Law and the dawning of a new age of the tyranny of the majority, where might is right and the prevailing principle is the Law of Force rather than the Force of Law,” Topacio said in a statement.

He denounced “the proceedings before the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges are nothing but that of a kangaroo court, to use a worn-out phrase.”

Topacio also cried foul over the labeling of Teves as a “terrorist.”

The lawmaker, who is still abroad, was earlier suspended twice for the offenses cited by the House ethics panel.

The committee report said: “The prolonged unauthorized absence of Rep. A. Teves Jr. deprives the 3rd District of Negros Oriental of proper representation and undermines the efficiency of the legislative process. Instead of actively participating in deliberations on important legislative measures pending in the House, the representative refuses to return to the country and perform his duties as House Member.”

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, will ask the Supreme Court to order the transfer of the trial venue to Manila for the multiple murder cases filed against Teves in connection with the deaths of three persons in the province in 2019.

This came after the DOJ filed the criminal cases against Teves and five others before the Negros Oriental regional trial court on Tuesday.

But Topacio said: “From the start of the (House) proceedings, it bore all the hallmarks of an inquisition: the Committee was the motu proprio Complainant, making it both the accuser and the judge; Rep. Teves was never allowed to participate in the proceedings by himself, but only through letters of his counsel, who was never even allowed to present; the hearings, although impressed with the public interest, was kept secret, like a medieval Court of the Star Chamber; and the final recommendation shows that there was never a bona fide intention to consider the evidence in favor of Mr. Teves.”

“To make matters worse, while the Committee was overly strict in not allowing Rep. Teves to participate in the proceedings, it chose to disregard Section 2 of its own rules which provides that proceedings in the Committee shall be deferred if any matter under discussion is before a judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative body, until after final judgment therein,” he added.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the DOJ will ask the SC to transfer the venue of the cases to Manila like what the high court did in the cases involving the slaying of Degamo and nine other persons.

Remulla said the members of the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service left last Monday to file the case in Negros Oriental.

“The initial venue should be in Negros before it is transferred to Manila by formal motion,” he said.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez presided over the session yesterday. Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Mannix Dalipe made the motion to put the committee’s recommendation for nominal voting.

Espares acknowledged that the House’s decision to expel one of its colleagues was “a painful choice.”

“We stand at the crossroads of history. Let us make the informed, even if painful choice, to stand by our People and remain the honorable Representatives, the Filipino people deserve…,” he said.

Teves left the country for the United States on Feb. 28, 2023. His travel authority from the House leadership expired on March 9, five days after the Negros governor was killed.

After being tagged as the alleged mastermind in the Degamo killing, Teves refused to come home, citing serious threats to his life.

Espares noted in the committee report Teves’ dance moves on social media which the panel viewed as conduct unbecoming of a public servant.

DOJ Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said that apart from Teves, also charged with multiple murder cases include Hannah Mae Sumerano, Richard Cuadra, Jasper Tanasan, Alex Mayagma, and Rolando Pinili.

The filing came after the DOJ prosecutors filed probable cause to indict them for the killings in 2019 of former Negros Oriental board member and former National Bureau of Investigation agent Michael Dungog; Lester Bato, a bodyguard of Basay mayoralty candidate Cliff Cordova; and Pacito Libron, an alleged hitman associated with Teves.

In filing the complaint in court, the DOJ panel of investigators said: “After a comprehensive evaluation of the complaint and the presented evidence, the investigating panel of prosecutors determined that the evidence is sufficient to substantiate charges of three counts of murder, as defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), as amended. These charges pertain to the actions of respondents Congressman Teves, Sumerano, Cuadra, Tanasan, Mayagma, and Pinili.”

Remulla also said the filing of the murder cases against Teves will allow the government to formally seek assistance from international law enforcement agencies to arrest the suspended lawmaker from anywhere once arrest warrants are issued.

The DOJ Secretary stressed that once the International Criminal Police Organization and other law enforcement bodies start tracking Teves, “it will affect Teves a lot.”

The Interpol notices will go red when we have a proper warrant of arrest. And there will be no more movement allowed within borders and boundaries. It is not a matter of questioning anymore. It is a matter of rendition,” Remulla pointed out.

Teves, who has been under suspension for failure to return to the country despite the lapse of his foreign travel authority on March 9, 2023, has denied the allegations against him in the Degamo slaying.

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