DOJ may seek Teves’ deportation

MANILA, Philippines — A case tight enough to convince the government of Cambodia to have suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. deported to the Philippines is being prepared by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

This was revealed by Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano, DOJ spokesman, to “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel Tuesday night, during which he underscored that Cambodia – where Teves is reportedly staying – does not have an extradition treaty with the Philippines.

Clavano said that while deportation would be the most logical process to get Teves home to answer to the courts, “with Cambodia, it becomes a matter of diplomacy.”

“It’s still the discretion of the requested party (Cambodia) whether or not they will deport (Teves) or not,” he said. “So we really have to play this the right way and make sure we close the case and tighten the case so we have enough basis to show this person is right for deportation.”

The DOJ official told The Chiefs that he was surprised to learn that the Philippines has extradition treaties with only 13 countries, which “is not a lot.”

“When you talk about extradition, it means there’s already an agreement between two states whereby the requesting state will request for the extradition of a certain suspect or a defendant and the requested state will have no choice but to extradite,” Clavano explained.

Asked if Teves picked the Southeast Asian country as his place of refuge with the knowledge that it had no extradition treaty with Manila, Clavano said while that is possible, the DOJ also has information the suspended congressman “might have some (business) interests in Cambodia.”