House panel recommends action on Teves as ultimatum to return lapses
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6:52 p.m.) — The House ethics and privileges committee has decided on a recommendation action on Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental, 3rd District) after he failed to meet the 24-hour ultimatum to return to the country and face the panel.
Rep. Felimon Espares (COOP NATCCO Partylist), chair of the committee, told reporters after a closed-door meeting that members of the panel have wrapped up its deliberations and unanimously voted on a “recommendation” for the House plenary. He however did not disclose the panel's recommendation action or whether they will push for sanctions against the absent lawmaker.
Espares said that Teves’ failure to return gave the panel “no choice (but) to wrap the investigation without his valid explanation.”
“We will transmit and submit our report at once and recommendation to the plenary for appropriate action,” Espares added.
The House plenary will decide tomorrow through a vote whether to accept the panel’s recommended action on Teves.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, in a separate statement, said Espares has already informed him that the panel reached a decision on the case of Teves.
“Rest assured that the House of Representatives will render its decision on this case observing due process and fully cognizant of Cong. Arnie’s rights, but with the best interest of the nation in mind,” he added.
The committee has given Teves two separate orders to face the panel to explain his continued absence — a five-day ultimatum on March 15 and then a 24-hour ultimatum on Monday — even as Teves requested for a two-month leave of absence.
Romualdez has repeatedly urged Teves to return to Manila and face allegations against him in connection to the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
However, Teves has said that he refuses to return to the Philippines due to fears for his personal safety.
With Teves abroad despite his expired travel clearance, he is considered on “unauthorized absence” and is not allowed to join the House panel’s meetings through teleconference, Espares said.
Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla also said on Tuesday that Teves has asked to speak with him, but Remulla said he refused the lawmaker's request due to concerns that his “words might be twisted” without other people present.
Suspects behind the killing of Degamo previously mentioned it was a "Congressman Teves" who ordered his killing while being escorted to the headquarters of the National Bureau of Investigation, but it was unclear whether they referred to Rep. Arnie or his brother, Pryde Henry, who is a former lawmaker.
Authorities believe Teves is no longer in the United States but somewhere in Asia, in a place which Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said on March 18 she was not at liberty to disclose. — Cristina Chi with reports by Kristine Joy Patag and The STAR / Ralph Edwin Villanueva
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