BACOLOD CITY – Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo ‘’Arnie’’ Teves Jr. on Monday, March 6, denied accusations linking him to the shooting incident that killed Gov. Roel Degamo and eight others, including two barangay officials, in Pamplona, Negros Oriental on March 4.
https://www.facebook.com/ArnieTevesOfficial/videos/892330145325492
“Ito ang matagal ko nang kinakatakot na mangyari. Bakit? Expected ko na…na ako na naman ang pagbibintangan (This is what I’m afraid to happen. Why? I’ve already expected that I am the one to be accused),” Teves said in a 16-minute live video on his Facebook page.
“Kung may balak man ako o may kakayahan na gawin ito, di sana ginawa ko na ito bago mag-eleksyon. Anong motibo kung ngayon gagawin? Hindi din magiging benepisyaryo ako o ang kapatid ko, dahil kung mawala ang gobernardor, ang uupo naman ay ang vice governor (If I had the intention or ability to do this, I would have done it before the (May 2022) elections. What is the motive for doing it now? Neither I nor my brother will benefit from this, because if the governor is gone, the vice governor will succeed),” Teves said.
Teves said he has many sources of intelligence information. “Ngayon napag-alaman ko na merong ibang mga tao diyan na gusto akong idiin. Ang iba siguro gusto lang umepal…gusto magpasikat para sa sarili nilang kapakanan. Wala po akong pinapatamaan, pero alam niyo kung sino kayo (Now I learned that there are other people out there who want to pressure me. Others may just want to be popular for their own sake. I'm not hitting on anyone, but you know who you are)," he added.
Teves said he is not fighting against the government. “Sino ba naman si Arnie para lumaban sa gobyerno? Ako ay ordinaryong tao lamang (Who am I to fight against the government? I am just an ordinary person),” he added.
He said that the incident is scary and is not good for the progress of his district and the province.
Teves is appealing to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for security and peace in the province of Negros Oriental. “Ang mga ganitong pangyayari na patayan ay hindi ko gusto at hindi kanais-nais (I don’t like this kind of incident),” he said.
He condoled with the families of the fatalities and wounded in the gun attack at the residence of Degamo.
Teves shared the pain of losing a loved one, citing the death of his cousin who was found dead with a bullet wound in Valencia town, Negros Oriental last month. He said the case of his slain cousin remains unsolved.
Rep. Teves is the brother of Pryde Henry Teves, who voluntarily stepped down from office, after Degamo was declared as the duly elected governor by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The Comelec credited to Degamo the more than 49,000 votes garnered by a nuisance candidate, who used the name ‘’Ruel Degamo’’ in the ballot during the last elections. The additional votes gave him a winning margin of 29,000 votes over the 301,319 votes of Pryde Henry.
Degamo’s wife, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, in an earlier interview, said that she believes that the assassination of her husband was politically motivated. However, police refused to discuss the possible motives as all angles are being closely probed.
Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) of Police Regional Office (PRO)- Central Visayas, said that four suspects, including two former Army soldiers, have been arrested in relation to the incident, while the other suspect was killed in a shootout in Bayawan City over the weekend.