Teves houses raided; illegal firearms seized

MANILA, Philippines — Armed with search warrants, members of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) yesterday seized various firearms and explosives during raids on several of the properties of Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr.

Among the properties were a house in Barangay Poblacion in Basay, which policemen raided around 5:50 a.m. Arrested during the operation was Jose Gimarangan, an occupant of the house.

Based on a report from the CIDG, among the weapons seized were a .45-caliber handgun, two .40 Glock pistols, a rifle and a hand grenade. Authorities also confiscated at least 57 rounds of ammunition.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, in an interview with dzBB radio, said the raids were in connection with killings in Negros Oriental in 2019 wherein Teves and five others were charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Abalos further clarified that the raid was not related to the murder of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and eight other people at his home in Pamplona town last Saturday.

“That’s what I was told, the 2019 killing. I repeat, that was approved by the court. What is important is that (the raid) underwent the process,” Abalos said in Filipino.

Arrested suspects Joric Labrador, 50, and Benjie Rodriguez, 45, were shown on TV tagging “Congressman Teves” as the mastermind while being escorted to the NBI headquarters from the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame.

It was unclear if the two were referring to Teves Jr. or his brother Pryde Henry, who previously held the same post.

Labrador and Rodriguez were placed in the Witness Protection Program (WPP) and the other two brought to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for further investigation.

Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesman for Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Degamo, said they obtained the same information from the suspects.

“We have already acquired this information the moment that we have arrested the suspects and right now, obviously, part of our investigation points to that direction,” Pelare said.

A separate statement from the Central Visayas police said investigators acquired the information linking Teves to the killings six hours after the bloodbath.

“While we had these significant developments at hand at the early stage of the conduct of massive hot pursuit operations, we maintained that these be revealed in due time to not compromise the conduct of investigations,” it said.

Teves, in an earlier video message, denied any involvement in the killing, but a counsel for the Degamo family, Gerry Carillo, tagged the Teveses as the main suspects.

He believes one of the primary reasons behind the attack was the Supreme Court’s decision upholding Degamo’s victory over Pryde Henry, who was ousted as governor of the province.

“There have been threats to the Degamos earlier and they are coming from the Teves’ camp, so more likely they would be one of the suspects,” Carillo told The Chiefs on One News on Thursday night.

Apart from the four suspects in government custody, lawmen are looking for around 12 other people involved in Degamo’s murder.

Pelare believes the other suspects are still in Negros Oriental as they have blocked all exit points in the province.

Bogus documents

Abalos said that Teves has long been using spurious documents in the possession of firearms after police raided his houses in the province.

“His documents were spurious even before, that’s why I called the attention of the PAO (Public Affairs Office). He has no right to bring guns as he was always presenting spurious documents,” Abalos said, adding that not all the houses that were raided belonged to Teves.

According to Abalos, the PNP discovered the bogus documents in its annual review.

“Every year, a review is conducted covering all gun owners, not only Teves. He cannot say that the police are only focusing on him. He has been doing that. He even attacked me and I just ignored him,” Abalos said.

The DILG chief likewise assured that the assassination of Degamo is nearing its resolution. “We will make sure that we will put behind bars the mastermind on the gruesome killing,” Abalos said.

“I am really furious. They have no conscience, that is why we created Task Force Degamo,” he added, without categorically saying if Teves was behind the killing of Degamo. – Bella Cariaso