NEGROS Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves yesterday said two powerful government officials have ordered to kill him because they want to monopolize the e-sabong business in the province, which the embattled lawmaker admitted to have been formerly involved in.
He did not name the officials, saying he will be charged with libel if he identified them during the TV interview with ANC’s Headstart program.
“Opisyal ng gobyerno… Dalawa sila, mataas na opisyal (They’re government officials, two. Two high-ranking officials),” he said.
Teves, whose whereabouts remain unknown, made the revelation when asked to explain his refusal to return to the country to face allegations he masterminded the assassination of political rival Gov. Roel Degamo last month. He has denied any knowledge or participation in the March 4 attack that killed Degamo.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who has said is among the masterminds in the killing, dismissed the suspended lawmaker’s statement that two government officials want him dead.
“Wala ‘yun. Kalokohan ‘yun. Ang namatay sa Negros, siyam. Sabi niya nakakatawa daw ‘yung ginagawa namin. Ano nakakatawa doon? Nakakatawa ba ‘yung namamatay na siyam na tao tapos nasugatan‘yung 17 pa dahil sa isang utos (That’s not true. It’s nonsense. Nine people were killed in Negros. And he said what we have been doing is funny. What’s so funny about nine people killed and 17 others injured all due to an order),” Remulla said.
Teves, in the interview, said he would have shared more details about the two officials if he had been allowed by the Senate committee on public order chaired by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa to participate virtually in the hearing on the Degamo slay, which started Monday.
Teves said he learned that from rumors coming from his political rivals that the two government officials “have partnered with e jueteng lord, wanting to monopolize e-sabong.”
“When they ordered to have me killed directly, that’s when they made a mistake. You know, why? They forgot that everyone knows someone anywhere. Smoke cannot be contained is hidden. Information gets leaked,” he said in Filipino.
Teves said two officials, who are not political rivals, were also the ones who orchestrated the police raid in his properties to allegedly plant evidence against him.
He said he later learned that that the “instruction” is for him to be shot in his house and the raiding team will claim he fought back.
E-SABONG
The suspended lawmaker admitted his involvement in the e-sabong business but said it was “a long time ago” when there was no law prohibiting it.
He said they merely tested the mobile app and the technology behind e-sabong but he no longer operates it because he does not own a franchise.
On Wednesday, NBI Region 7 (Central Visayas) Director Rennan Agustus Oliva told the Senate hearing that Teves threatened him for leading a raid on an e-sabong or online cockfighting hub in Minglanilla, Cebu last year.
“My involvement in e-sabong is true, I know how to run that because I was the first who developed that, how it is, the game. But before and even until now, I don’t know if it’s really illegal or what and there’s really no law against e-sabong,” he said.
Teves also denied the allegations that he runs a small town lottery (STL) business in the province.
At one point in the interview, the embattled congressman appeared irritated when host Karen Davila asked him: “Why didn’t you behave the way a lawmaker should? Sorry sir. You should have shown up in Congress, reported to the Speaker, right? Because as you claimed, you’re innocent. (You should have) shown up, gone to work the way an innocent congressman would.”
Reacting, Teves said: “Ganito ma’am, pwede ko ulitin? Ano bang mahirap intindihin sa papatayin ka?! Ano bang mahirap intindihin doon? Naiiyak na ako! (It’s like this ma’am, can I just repeat it? What’s so difficult to understand in ‘you will be killed’?! What’s so difficult to understand about that? I’m about to cry!)”
TERRORIST
Remulla said the illegal possession of firearms filed against Teves is sufficient enough for him to be declared a terrorist.
Remulla told reporters after he attended the release of another batch of inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City that the lack of a murder charges against Teves does not weaken the Department of Justice’s plan to ask the Court of Appeals to proscribe or declare him a terrorist under the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020.
“That’s not a conflict at all,” Remulla said, adding that the DOJ thinks the gun case is enough to declare Teves a terrorist.
Without disclosing details, Remulla said the DOJ has started preliminary moves in seeking the proscription of Teves.
He did not say when the formal petition with the CA would be filed.
On Monday, Remulla said the department will move for the proscription or designation of Teves as a terrorist.
Remulla said the activities that led to the March 4 attack on Degamo are covered by the Anti-Terrorism Law, including the recruitment, financing, purchase, and distribution of firearms, and everything that transpired had the hallmarks of terrorism.
WHEREABOUTS
Remulla said they have received information that Teves is moving back and forth from South Korea and Cambodia.
Earlier, Sen.Joel.Villanueva said a friend told him he saw Teves eating at a restaurant in Seoul, South Korea.
Remulla said Teves’ continued refusal to return home even after no less than President Marcos Jr. assured him of his safety, is an indication of guilt.
“Ang tao kasing guilty, iiwas talaga iyan. Kahit ano pa sabihin niya, humarap siya. Kung wala siyang kasalanan, humarap siya (A guilty person will do everything to steer clear.Whatever he may say, he should face and do it here.If he is not guilty, then he should be here),” he said.
Remulla earlier dared Teves to put a stop to his “drama” and return to the country to answer all the allegations against him.
As a lawmaker, he said Teves has a responsibility to return and face the accusations against him.
LOYALTY
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs which conducted hearings for three days since Monday, asked policemen to be loyal to their organization and not to individuals, after learning that dozens of policemen from Negros Oriental have reportedly expressed their loyalty to politicians in the province.
Dela Rosa, on Wednesday night, said he was disappointed to learn from resource persons during the marathon hearing that policemen detailed there were mostly faithful to local political leaders.
Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, said policemen should be grateful to the PNP.
“My children went to school because of the PNP. Even you, your children went to school because of the PNP. I became a senator because of the PNP. That’s why you should be stricken by your conscience, you who are involved in wrongdoing,” a teary-eyed Dela Rosa said in Filipino before suspending the hearing.
He said the PNP is being bashed because the misdeeds of a few.
“Bugbog na bugbog na ang ating organisasyon, ang ating institusyon. Maawa naman kayo (Our organization, our institution is badly beaten. Have mercy) …Still the institution remains. People come and go. Officers come and go, commanders come and go, but the PNP remains,” he said.
Dela Rosa also thanked the people of Negros Oriental, who attended the hearing and disclosed their concerns.
He said he will call for another hearing. No date has been set. — With Ashzel Hachero and Raymond Africa
