Make it airtight

There has been no formal indictment, but let’s not kid ourselves – the person being mainly eyed in the gangland-style assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo is Arnolfo Teves Jr., representative of the province’s third district.

The congressman surely knows it. His homes have been raided for guns. The entire police force in his clan’s home turf Bayawan City has been replaced. Two of his sons, including Kurt Matthew who beat up a security guard last year at BF Homes, Parañaque, are under watch by aviation officials, indicating that the sons are deemed to be flight risks.

With nine murders to account for, whoever is responsible for the brazen assassination of Degamo can be expected to put up a spirited fight to avoid prosecution, conviction or even arrest.

As we can see, the only clan mentioned in connection with the attack has vast resources – numerous homes, a fleet of vehicles, and even private planes that Kurt Matthew had tried to use, but he was reportedly prevented from flying out.

If probers are zeroing in on this clan, the government had better make sure it will have an airtight case that will lead to conviction.

Yesterday, Speaker Martin Romualdez rejected Teves’ request for a two-month leave of absence following the lapse of his travel authority to the United States.

Teves has not been charged for the nine deaths in the so-called Pamplona massacre in Degamo’s home. But Teves already faces charges in court for three murders in 2019.

He has also been indicted together with Kurt Matthew and another son, Axel, for illegal gun possession. If the congressman returns, he could be arrested and held without bail for multiple offenses.

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It’s unclear if Teves’ brother Pryde Henry, who used to hold the third district congressional seat and served as Bayawan mayor before losing the race for governor to Degamo, will eventually be indicted. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has said three or four possible masterminds are being eyed in the Pamplona killings.

Since it’s Arnolfo Teves, however, who has made himself scarce and is behaving like a fugitive, public suspicion is inevitably focused on him.

The congressman’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, has said Teves wants to return from the United States where he ostensibly had stem cell treatment, but fears for his safety.

Speaker Romualdez, Remulla and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin have assured Teves of protection upon his return. Romualdez reiterated yesterday that Teves’ travel authorization to the US was good only up to March 9 and the congressman should return to work.

Topacio told “The Chiefs” on One News last Tuesday that Teves obtained a travel authority rather than filing for a leave of absence, and so could not be deemed AWOL or absent without leave.

We asked Topacio what other reassurance his client would need to consider it safe enough to return to the country. Are the reassurances from the Speaker, the justice secretary and PNP chief not enough? Does Teves want reassurance from the President himself?

After all, the Teves camp has said he had been receiving death threats long before Degamo’s murder, yet Teves did not see the need to stay away from the country. Also, don’t the Teves family members, seen as political kingpins in Negros Oriental, eat death threats for breakfast?

Topacio said the police raids on Teves’ properties in Negros have made the congressman leery instead of reassured by the statements about his safety particularly from the PNP.

The raids were covered by search warrants issued by the courts in connection with the three murders in 2019 for which Teves and five others have been indicted.

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Topacio told us that the searches were done without body cameras, and household members were sent out so the subject of the search was not represented during the operation. This violated regulations on the conduct of such searches, Topacio said; they are preparing a legal challenge that could render any items confiscated inadmissible as evidence.

The lawyer wants to remind the public about the presumption of innocence, and the fact that neither of the Teves brothers has been indicted in connection with Degamo’s murder.

Topacio is aware of public perceptions that his client is guilty. But he reminds everyone that there have been personalities convicted in the court of public opinion who have been cleared by judicial courts.

His Exhibit A is former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, currently one of the House deputy speakers and still a power broker in the incumbent administration, who was under “hospital arrest” for several years for plunder.

There is also Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, also cleared of plunder, but who has yet to return our P124 million in tax money misused for his pork barrel.

Topacio is confident that Teves will also eventually be cleared – especially with all the procedural violations that the lawyer says are being committed in the searches and indictments of his clients.

Police and prosecutors have been warned.

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PNP ESCORT SERVICE: At around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday along Roxas Boulevard in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, two motorcycle cops, with the vehicle blinkers running, stopped traffic to escort an SUV bedecked with wedding flowers from Vito Cruz to the southbound lane of the boulevard.

In addition to being politicians’ bodyguards, are cops now also serving as wedding security escorts?

No wonder it’s so easy for gunmen to massacre people right at the home of a provincial governor and his wife the town mayor. The cops are busy providing escort services for weddings and funerals.