FORMER congressman Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. refused to enter a plea during his arraignment before a Manila regional trial court on murder charges filed in connection with the March 2023 killing of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and nine others and the wounding of several others.
Teves did not personally attend the arraignment before Manila RTC Branch 51 as the court allowed him to participate via video conferencing from his detention cell at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
Andrei Bon Tagum, lawyer of Degamo’s widow Janice, said the arraignment is “a critical step towards justice.”
Teves is facing 10 counts of murder, 13 counts of frustrated murder, and four counts of attempted murder in connection with the Degamo case.
With his decision to once again invoke his right to remain silent, the court entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
Last week, Teves also declined to enter a plea during his arraignment before another Manila court, for charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, also prompting the court to enter a not guilty plea.
Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said he told his client not to enter a plea “as a form of protest over the manner by which he was extradited by the Philippine government in collusion with the executive branch of the Timor-Leste government.”
“There is a core fundamental issue here by which he was extradited in violation of a court, and the writ of habeas corpus that was issued while he was in Timor-Leste soil and that was disregarded by the Timor-Leste government,” he told reporters outside the court.
Teves’ camp has lamented his deportation to Manila amid the habeas corpus petition before Timor-Leste’s Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, Teves asked the courts handling his criminal cases to allow his continued detention in the NBI facility inside the national penitentiary.
In an urgent motion dated June 3, Teves cited security and safety concerns if he is transferred to another detention facility.
Earlier, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said one of the Manila courts handling the cases against Teves has ordered that he be detained at the Manila City Jail. However, Santiago said they decided to keep Teves in the NBI facility while waiting for the other courts to decide on where he would be held while the trial of the various cases are being held.
Teves is also facing a murder case before the Bayawan RTC in Negros Oriental and a case for violation of the terrorism financing and prevention act before a Quezon City court.
“While accused maintains his innocence for the said crimes, it is not far-fetched that the relatives and or sympathizers of these many victims, who for some reasons may be already convinced of his guilt even before trial, are out there to seek vengeance, albeit misplaced, and are ready to take the law into their hands to harm him,” Teves’ urgent plea said.
