MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday said that an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) been issued a against Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental).
This has allowed the Philippines to gain information whenever Teves makes entries to countries of different jurisdictions, Remulla said.
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“He cannot keep his whereabouts secret anymore since there is already an Interpol notice about his movements,” the justice chief said in a press conference streamed by CNN Philippines.
“What’s happening now is that we are informed of his movements by all jurisdictions. Once he enters a certain jurisdiction, they already inform us of his movements,” he said.
Remulla said that according to their information, Teves went to Korea after he left the country for the United States. He then went to Cambodia, then back to Korea and then to Timor-Leste.
In Timor-Leste, the embattled lawmaker applied for protection visa with the intent of asylum.
But the Timor-Leste government has rejected his application and has given him five days to leave the country. Within this period, Teves may also appeal the decision on his appeal for asylum.
Remulla, in an earlier interview with CNN Philippines' The Source, said the National Bureau of Investigation will move to have Teves' passport cancelled. He clarified in the afternoon that the bureau can only do so when there is a case filed.
"Effectively, passports can be cancelled when there is already a court case, so we will make for the cases to be filed before our courts by the prosecutors, by the panel of prosecutors, before we seek for the cancellation of the passport," he said.
Teves has refused to come back to Manila, citing fear for his life and security.
Fugitive
Remulla has asserted that Teves remains a fugitive as he pointed out that the lawmaker remains wanted for legal processes and there are subpoenas he has to answer.
He stressed that being unable to answer subpoenas because he has absented himself country “knowing well there are charges is an apparent move to try to evade the jurisdiction of the country.”
Teves is currently facing pending complaints on illegal possession of firearms and of explosives, and murder raps over 2019 killings.
Remulla however said complaints over the brazen assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, where nine others were killed and more than a dozen was hurt, will be filed “very soon.”
READ: Teves considered ‘highest mastermind’ in Degamo slay
The DOJ has also started the process of designating Teves as a terrorist, and Remulla said they will also move for his proscription before the court.
The designation of Teves as a terrorist, under Section 25 of law, will trigger the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s authority to freeze the assets of the lawmaker.
Remulla said that proscription, under Section 26 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, will make Teves’ life more difficult.
“That will give the duty of rendition to all member-states of the United Nations to arrest any person charged with terrorism to deliver him for trial to the court to the country where he came from,” the DOJ chief said.
Under Section 26 of the law, only terrorist organizations, association or group of persons can be proscribed.
Remulla said Teves can be proscribed for belonging to a “criminal organization, gambling organization that may have done terrorist acts, financed terrorist acts.”
Fears of potential abuse of the law have been raised against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, prompting more than 35 groups to question its constitutionality before the Supreme Court that, in the end, left the measure mostly intact.