Timor Leste to hold hearings on wanted Pinoy congressman
By Chloe Mari A. Hufana
IT MAY take as long as 40 days before an expelled congressman accused of masterminding the killing of his province’s governor can be deported back to the Philippines from Timor Leste, where he will first undergo court proceedings, according to government agents.
A Timor Leste court will hold court proceedings to determine whether to send ex-Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo A. Teves, Jr. back home, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo G. de Lemos told a news briefing on Monday.
“Mr. Teves will be presented in a court to decide if they will allow him to go back here to the country,” he said.
Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta promised the NBI seven to 40 days to resolve the case.
NBI agents earlier returned to the Philippines after filing to get custody of the former lawmaker in Timor Leste. Mr. De Lemos blamed Timor Leste’s complex justice system for the delay.
Deportation proceedings had yet to start because authorities were still evaluating the red notice issued by the International Police, he added.
Mr. De Lemos said the NBI was not expecting to bring home Mr. Teves on their first visit to Timor Leste, adding that agents went there to verify his arrest.
The NBI team managed to get a “smiling photo” and the fingerprints of Mr. Teves, he added.
Ferdinand S. Topacio, the ex-congressman’s lawyer in the Philippines, accused the NBI of harassment by getting a photo of his client while being detained.
He said Mr. Teves fears for his safety and is not keen to come home.
He is now an undocumented alien in Timor Leste after the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) canceled his passport.
The Department of Justice is also looking at rendition or voluntary surrender to bring Mr. Teves home.
Ephraim B. Cortez, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, told BusinessWorld via Viber that the easiest way to bring Mr. Teves home is for the Timor Leste government to surrender custody.
Mr. Topacio said they might bring his client’s case to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
“We do not recognize or acknowledge any camp that refuses to go through our justice system,” Justice Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV told reporters in a WhatsApp message.
“The brutal crimes happened here in the Philippines,” he said. “The families of the victims are here in the Philippines. So, we want justice to be served here in the Philippines.”
Mr. Teves is accused of masterminding the murder of former Negros Oriental Governor Roel R. Degamo last year and five others. He was added to Interpol’s red notice list last month.