DOJ confident Teves will be sent back to PH in July

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is confident that expelled Negros Oriental  Representative Arnolfo Teves will be brought back to the Philippines in July to face criminal charges even if his camp appeals the Timor-Leste Court of  Appeals’ decision granting the Philippines’ extradition request against the former lawmaker.

“If by Monday, magfa-file na  sila…Hopefully by end of next week meron na pong desisyon. Binibigyan  kasi sila ng 30 days para mag-file,” DOJ spokesperson and Assistant  Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“So if they exhaust the 30 days, which we  anticipate they will do, then it will be after the filing we will see  kung ano ang magiging desisyon ng [Timor-Leste]. Court of Appeals.  Around the last week of July makikita na natin si Ginoong Teves dito sa  Pilipinas,” Clavano said.

The DOJ said that Teves’  camp has 30 days to appeal the decision of Timor-Leste’s appellate court. 

Teves’ lawyer, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, earlier said that they would appeal the grant of extradition request by the Philippine government.

Moreover, Topacio said Teves could not yet be extradited since there was a pending political asylum application. 

The DOJ, however, said that the expelled legislator’s application for political asylum had already been rejected twice.

Clavano said the Philippine government’s extradition case was strong since the  arguments of the Teves camp were “hindi naman talaga totoo.”

The DOJ spokesperson said Teves was not politically persecuted in the  Philippines and that his worries over facing the death penalty in the country were not true.

“We do not have a death penalty here in the Philippines. We also have had certain reforms and efforts in human rights, protection of human rights,” Clavano said.

“I think ‘yung satisfaction ng mga justices ng Court of Appeals of Timor-Leste will carry over sa motion for reconsideration,” he said.

Teves is facing murder charges over his alleged involvement in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo in 2023.

The former lawmaker and others have also been charged with the deaths of three individuals in Negros Oriental in 2019.

Teves and 12 others have also been 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 Teves' passport.

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

GMA News Online reached out to Teves’ camp through Topacio for comment, but no response has been received as of this posting.

“I feel the desperation, I feel they are grasping at straws at this point dahil wala na silang pwedeng gawin. I think it’s about high time that they face the cases of multiple murders in the Philippines,” Clavano said.

NBI, PNP Custodial Center

The DOJ spokesperson said the government was preparing the facilities that could house Teves after his return to the Philippines.

“We are looking at several options… primordial concern is he is safe…  integrity of proceedings are kept so we cannot put him with his co-accused,” Clavano said.

“We’re looking at the NBI facility or PNP Custodial Center,” he added.

Teves has been under the custody of Timor-Leste police since March following his arrest based on the International  Criminal Police Organization  (Interpol) red notice issued against him in February.

A  red notice is a request for law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person pending his extradition,  surrender, or similar legal action.

The notice stemmed from the multiple murder charges filed against Teves for the Degamo killing, which he repeatedly denied. — DVM, GMA Integrated News