Teves stages ‘protest,’ refuses to enter plea in arraignment for murder case
In his first appearance in court on Tuesday after he underwent an appendectomy last month, expelled House lawmaker Arnolfo Teves Jr. again refused to enter a plea during his arraignment for a 2019 murder case.
As a result, the judge of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Teves, who was heavily guarded by personnel from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
His lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said that his client’s refusal to enter a plea was meant to “protest” the “manner by which he was repatriated by the Philippine government” from Timor-Leste.
The arraignment and pretrial of Teves were in relation to the 2019 killing of a provincial board member in Negros Oriental, according to Topacio.
Among the coaccused of the former House representative in the case are Hannah Mae Sumerano, Richard Cuadra, Jasper Tanasan, Alex Mayagma and Rolando Pinili.
‘Politically motivated’
“This case was already previously dismissed by the Department of Justice after preliminary investigation. This was just revived because, as you all know, these are politically motivated,” Topacio said.
He added that the judge in charge of the case granted their request to conduct the subsequent proceedings via video teleconferencing.
“Last week, he (Teves) had a follow-up checkup in the (Metro Manila District Jail) Annex 2, but the doctors were the ones who went there so as not to [inconvenience] the BJMP because there are a lot of logistical requirements every time he has to move around,” Topacio said.
On Monday, another Manila judge entered a “not guilty” plea on behalf of Teves in another murder case. The arraignment in that case was conducted virtually.
“[The murder happened] in the same year (2019), but it’s a different case and a different victim, so it has different circumstances,” Topacio explained.
Aside from the 2019 killings, the expelled lawmaker is also facing multiple murder complaints in connection with the killing of his political rival, former Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, and several others.
He is also charged with two separate cases: one for illegal possession of explosives under Section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1866, as amended by Republic Act No. 9516, and another for illegal possession of firearms under Section 28(b) of RA 10591.
On June 17, Teves was taken out of the BJMP’s Metro Manila District Jail Annex 2 at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City and brought to a nearby hospital for severe abdominal pains.
