MANILA, Philippines — The legal team of suspended Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental) may challenge before the courts the new 60-day suspension imposed upon the lawmaker.
In an interview with ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo on Thursday, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said they are “not foreclosing our judicial recourses with respect to the actions of the House Committee on Ethics.”
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The House of Representatives issued a new 60-day suspension against Teves on Wednesday evening over his continued absence from the chamber. The lawmaker from Negros Oriental has also been stripped off his committee memberships due to his “misconduct” and his reported attempt — asked about it, Teves said he would neither confirm nor deny doing so — to seek asylum in Timor Leste.
Teves is vice chair of the games and amusements committee and a member of the nuclear energy and legislative franchises committees.
Topacio said while they recognize that the House Committee on Ethics and the House, as a body, has the authority to impose sanctions on members, he insisted that his client’s rights were violated, specifically Teves’ right to due process and equal protection.
The lawyer said they might also include the first sanction of a 60-day suspension, which was issued in March, in their potential legal challenge.
Teves has refused to return to the country despite the expiration of his travel authority, as he cited fears for his life and wanting to see a “semblance of fairness” in allegations against him.
Teves has been named as the mastermind behind the brazen assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo where nine others were killed and more than a dozen were hurt.
He is facing multiple murder, attempted murder and frustrated murder complaints pending before the Department of Justice over the Degamo killing.
Ten suspects however already recanted their testimonies—according to their lawyers—including allegations that Teves is the brains behind the killing.
Topacio has urged Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to investigate the suspect-witnesses’ allegations of torture instead of warning them of a possible perjury case over their retractions.
On top of these, Teves is also facing a separate multiple murder rap over 2019 killings and illegal possession of firearms and explosives complaints, while the process to designate him as a terrorist has already started.