JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said six or seven suspects in the March 4 attack that killed Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, who earlier volunteered their statements to authorities, have “lawyered up,” with some of then even refusing to talk now.
Remulla, in a briefing, also said suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, whom he has tagged as one of the masterminds in the Degamo killing and who has attempted to seek asylum in Timor-Leste, might be somewhere in the region. Timor-Leste has rejected Teves’ asylum bid and has given him five days to leave the country, Remulla said last week.
On the suspects, Remulla said, “When we were already pursuing the participation of Congressman Teves, many of them have lawyered up. Meaning, by lawyered up, they were provided with lawyers by some people who are paying for their lawyers who were not there before, and obviously, some people are interested in the statements they want to give and now they don’t want to cooperate anymore with the authorities,” Remulla said, adding that before, during questioning when they gave their statements, they were assisted by lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).
Most of the suspects were arrested or have surrendered shortly after the killing.
“Six or seven of them have lawyered up, suspects who are also witnesses who actually gave us a very good picture of what happened immediately after the fact. These were remarks made freely or openly to investigators when they were in custody,” Remulla said.
He said this is one of the reasons the filing of murder cases against Teves is being delayed, as the prosecution team has to review everything the suspects have said.
However, Remulla said the development will not stop them from filing the case, especially since the suspects have given their statements freely, with CCTV and cameras and in front of witnesses and PAO lawyers, to dispel any notion they were coerced or threatened into making those statements.
“This is all being taken into consideration so that the complaints will contain accurate descriptions of what happened especially when the complaint against Cong Teves is brought forward within the next few days,” he said, adding the case will probably be filed this Wednesday.
“I spoke to the main prosecutors and they just need to backtrack on the records,” he added.
Remulla said 10 murder complaints will be filed against Teves in connection with the killing of Degamo as 10 people were killed.
Teves has denied any involvement or knowledge of Degamo’s killing.
Remulla declined to say who provided the lawyers to some of the suspects who have clammed up but said they can trace those behind them.
“It’s not important now to say who’s paying for what and how much but the important thing is the winds will shift and the stories will become different when they’ve lawyered up,” he said.s
‘It’s a good thing that we already have their statements clearly said prior to everything else,” he added.
The DOJ chief said they expected this kind of thing to happen, especially since Degamo’s killing is a product of a conspiracy and those involved will do everything to get them off the hook.
“There’s a conspiracy, and there’s probably people with a lot of money operating within the conspiracy to be able to afford the lawyers they are now getting. We expected things to go this way because of the amount of money that is there. It will be affected, the kind of businesses that are part of this violent incident,” he added.
NO RECANTATION YET
Remulla said none of the suspects who have cooperated with authorities and provided information have recanted their statements but, he added, they expect it to happen.
He assured the public any recantation will not affect the cases to be filed.
“Some of them have refused to speak already and they have not issued another statement and we suspect that they will change their statements later on and may make recantation of sorts but we are not afraid of that because everything was clearly given and said in front of counsel and other people,” he said.
“There are no recantations yet but we expect that to happen. It’s a tactic used by people who want to destroy their previous statements, citing several excuses but we expect these statements to hold out,” he added.
TEVES WHEREABOUTS
Remulla said Teves may have already left Timor-Leste and could be staying in an ASEAN member country because ASEAN countries do not require a visa for any individual holding a passport from any of its member-states.
“Teves might now be somewhere in the ASEAN region because ASEAN passport holders can enter ASEAN countries visa-free,” he said.
He pointed out that Teves also has visas to the United States and South Korea.
Remulla also said he does not anticipate any change in the decision of Timor-Leste to deny Teves’ asylum request.
Earlier, Remulla said the DOJ will seek the cancellation of Teves’ passport once the murder charges are filed against him in court.
He said they are also looking at whether Teves is using the diplomatic passport given him as a lawmaker.
“He has a diplomatic passport which we can also seek the cancellation of it was used in his travels abroad but we will validate that information if he used the diplomatic passport when he went to another country. Because a diplomatic passport is not a right but a privilege given to government officials and since he has been suspended from the House, then he shouldn’t be using it,” Remulla said last week.
He said he also received information that Teves also has a “golden passport” that he may have used in his travels.
“These are sold by different states. We can find out if he has a passport from another jurisdiction,” he said.
Aside from being implicated in the Degamo killing, Teves is also facing multiple murder charges before the DOJ over the 2019 killing of three persons, and complaints of illegal possession of firearms.
The DOJ has also moved to designate Teves as a terrorist under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 due to his alleged involvement in several high-profile killings and other criminal activities.
