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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint against Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. and five others before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The complaint was in relation to killings that took place in 2019 in various parts of Negros Oriental.
According to the complaint sheet Teves and a certain Hannah Mae are accused of three counts of murder while a certain Richard Cuadra, Rolando Pinili, and Jasper Tanasan, are accussed of two counts of murder, and a certain Alex Mayagma is accused of one count of murder.
Teves and the others were being tagged for the death of former councilor Miguel Lopez Dungog on March 25, 2019, near Siliman Medical Center, Dumaguete City; and two others on May 26, 2019, at Sitio Labugon, Barangay, Nago-alao, Basay, Negros Oriental. They were also being linked to the killing that happened on June 23, 2019, at Barangay Malabugas also in Negros Oriental.
PNP-CIDG files complaint for murder vs. Negros Oriental Rep. Arnulfo Teves Jr. and 5 others for 2019 deaths @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/uneFWMaQkO
— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) March 7, 2023
Lawyer Levito Baligod said the complaint was based on the affidavit of a confessed gunman before the PNP-CIDG.
“Nag-file ang pamilya at ang [The family and] CIDG against Cong. Arnolfo Teves for killings that were perpetrated way back in 2019,” the counsel for the victims’ relatives told reporters.
“Ang witnesses po ay ‘yung mga tao na kasama sa pagpatay. Ito ‘yung mga assassination team na nag-execute ng affidavit [The witnesses are those involved in the killing. They are part of the assassination team that executed the affidavit],” he added.
Baligod, however, quickly clarified that the filing of this complaint has nothing to do with the ongoing probe into the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and several others.
The Degamo and Teves families are political rivals in the province.
READ: Cong. Teves condemns brutal killing of Gov. Degamo, denies involvement
“Matagal na naming binubuo ang reklamo at nataon lang sa pagpaslang kay Negros Oriental Governor Degamo nang matapos ito at handa nang maisampa [We have been preparing this for a long time and it just happened that it was completed and readied for filing when Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo was killed,” he added.
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