Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. made an appeal to the public as he maintained his innocence amid the March 4 assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.

"Ang dapat nating sundin ay ating Konstitusyon na ang tao ay presumed innocent until proven guilty. Hindi dapat rin i-deprive sa freedom...and liberties at ano pa dyan (What we need to follow is our Constitution, which says that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. His freedom and liberties and what not, must not also be deprived)," Teves said in a video message that was posted on his Facebook Tuesday night, March 21.

"Ito si Congressman Arnie Teves nakikiusap, tama na yung pang aapi, tama na yung pagtuturo, tama na yung pang-aapak at pag-iipit sa akin (This is Congressman Arnie Teves, appealing to you, stop this oppression, stop pointing fingers at me, stop violation and harassing me)," he said.

Teves, a former deputy speaker, is currently out of the country. He has said that he refuses to come back home for her of his life.

While there is no filed case linking him to the killing of his provincemate, the congressman believes that "some people in government" have been working against him.

"Baka naman bigla nanaman akong labasan ng warrant....baka bigla niyo nanaman ako labasan ng probable cause. Ang dali gunawa ng ebidensya, ang dali gumawa ng witness. Wag naman sana (There could be another warrant issued against me...they could issue probable cause against me. It's so easy to fabricate evidence, it's so easy to produce a witness. I hope this is not the case)," he said.