Arnie Teves’ extradition trial concluded last week —DOJ

The extradition trial of former Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. in Timor-Leste concluded last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, both parties were given time to submit their respective position paper on their arguments and positions.

“Submission is sequential, not simultaneous. Timor Leste Central Authority will have to submit first its Memorandum/Position Paper followed by Teves camp,” the DOJ said in a statement. 

Following this, the court will then have five days to render its decision.

“It is anticipated that a decision will come by or close to the end of June,” the Justice Department said.

“Particularly as our witnesses were able to effectively counter the arguments raised by the camp of Teves,” it said.

Teves’ lawyer, Atty Ferdinand Topacio, meanwhile, refused to give an assessment on the hearings, saying that any assessment from their camp would be “biased and self-serving.” 

“All I would like to say on record is that we gave it our best shot, and hope and pray that the East Timor court would follow what is in the Constitution, without regard to the diplomatic pressure that the Philippines government has been exerting,” he said.

The trial before the Timor-Leste Court of Appeals stemmed from the request of the Philippine government to extradite Teves back to the Philippines, where he is facing murder charges over his alleged involvement in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and others at the home of the then-governor on March 4, 2023. 

Teves has denied the accusations, saying that he was out of the country at the time of the attack. However, Teves has never returned to the Philippines after going abroad. 

In September 2023, he was seen in Timor-Leste, where he sought asylum but was denied.

Teves is currently under house arrest as ordered by the Timor-Leste court after it said that “the risk of flight persists for the extraditee.”

Teves and 12 others were designated as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council, citing several alleged killings and harassment in Negros Oriental.

In early February, a Manila Court ordered the cancellation of his passport.

He was expelled by the House of Representatives in August last year for disorderly conduct and continued absence despite an expired travel authority. —VAL, GMA Integrated News