Interpol has already issued a notice against fugitive lawmaker Arnolfo Teves as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is poised to seek the cancellation of his passport to force the congressman to return to the Philippines to face murder charges filed against him.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday said the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has already issued a blue notice so that the fugitive’s whereabouts can be monitored.
“There’s already a notice. What is happening now is we’re being informed of his movements by all jurisdictions. They will inform us of his movements. That’s why Timor Leste immediately informed us of his arrival,” Remulla said.
Teves, who is facing charges for three murders in 2019, is also a key suspect in the March 4 assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.
Remulla asserted that Teves should be considered as a fugitive because he is wanted for legal processes that may be served on him in the country such as subpoenas.
Teves has refused to return to the Philippines, saying he fears for his life and his family’s safety.
Teves’ lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said the move of the DOJ to have the lawmaker’s passport canceled has no legal basis at this time.
“There are only three instances when a Philippine passport may be canceled, when one is a fugitive from justice; when one has been convicted of a crime, and when the passport was fraudulently acquired or has been tampered with,” Topacio said.
Topacio declined to comment on his client’s failure to obtain asylum from Timor Leste, saying he did not have enough information.
In separate interview, Remulla clarified that the NBI will request for the cancellation of the lawmaker’s passport only after it filed a case with the prosecutors.
He admitted that the right to travel is a constitutional right which should be respected.
“We will only cancel it when there is a cause to cancel it, which is a court case for murder or terrorism or whatever cases,” Remulla said.
But Remulla said the NBI will also seek the cancellation of Teves’ diplomatic passport if it was used in his travels.
“We will validate that information, if he used the diplomatic passport when he went to another country. Then, we can seek its cancellation because a diplomatic passport is not a right but a privilege given to government officials,” Remulla said.
“But since he is suspended from the House, he should not be using it–all members of the House have diplomatic passports,” he said.
Teves is still in Timor Leste despite the denial of his application for a protection visa with intent of seeking asylum as reported by the Ministry of Interior of Timor-Leste to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Tuesday.
Teves was given five days to leave Timor Leste, the DFA said.
Remulla said he expects Teves to go back to South Korea following Timor Leste’s denial of his plea for asylum.
The DOJ has also moved to designate Teves as a terrorist due to his alleged involvement in several high-profile killings and other criminal activities.
Remulla said the Anti-Terrorism Council-Technical Working Group (ATC-TWG) has already convened to discuss the possibility of declaring Teves a terrorist aside from being a person of interest in several murder cases.
On the other hand, Remulla cleared former Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves, the congressman’s brother, of any complicity in the March 4 killing of Degamo and eight others.
“We don’t see him at all. He has not turned out… to be a major actor,” Remulla said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Pryde Teves was Negros Oriental governor until the Commission on Elections (Comelec) unseated him and declared Degamo the winner.
Remulla said criminal complaints in the Pamplona killings against congressman Teves are expected to be filed on Monday, May 15.
After the filing of the complaints, Remulla said the DOJ will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel his passport, making him an illegal alien in any country he stays in.
House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez on Wednesday urged the suspended Teves to return to the Philippines or face further disciplinary action.
He added that his act of seeking political asylum in another country and abandoning his sworn duty as a member of the House of Representatives were a cause for “great concern.”
In the Senate, Rhilrose Antoinette Torres, a former member of Degamo’s staff who is now in the Teves camp said both the slain governor and the congressman were “warlords.”
At a hearing of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs, Torres accused the Degamo family of being behind the strafing of her house in Dumaguete City on April 21.
Torres said she believed she was targeted because she knew “a lot of their secrets.”
Torres also told the Senate panel that the Degamos, like the Teves family, have unexplained wealth.
But the murdered governor’s widow, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, denied they were behind the strafing of Torres’ house and said they were open to any investigation of allegations of ill-gotten wealth.