The House of Representatives has received a letter from Pamplona town Mayor Janice Degamo asking the chamber to impose the penalty of expulsion to the recently suspended Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. Thus, said House Secretary General Reginald Velasco in a chance interview with reporters Thursday, March 23. Mayor Degamo is the wife of Negros Oriental Governor Roel, who was assassinated outside their home in Pamplona, Negros Oriental last March 4. Teves, who has been out of the country since late February, is being implicated in the killing. Velasco said the House received the lady mayor's letter Wednesday. "Yung sulat ni (The letter of) Mrs. Degano, Mayor Janice Degamo is urging or calling for the expulsion of Congressman Arnie Teves," he said. The House official said the mayor believes that Teves had a hand in what transpired in the province, and is thus asking the House to expel him. "Medyo matindi yung request niya, expulsion. Eh yung expulsion naman, for any House member, may proseso rin, may procedure din yan. Again, ire-refer din namin yan eventually sa Committee on Ethics. Kasi related yan dun sa tingin namin, related yan sa kaso ni Arnie Teves (The requested penalty is quite hefty, expulsion. For any House member, there is a process and procedure for expulsion. Again, we will refer it eventually to the Committee on Ethics. Because we think this is related to Arnie Teves' case)," Velasco said. During plenary session Wednesday night, the members unanimously voted 292-0-0 (yes-no-abstain) to slap a 60-day suspension against Teves for "disorderly behavior". This didn't have anything to do with the allegations against him; instead, this was his penalty for refusing to heed calls to come back home as well as the summons of the House Committee on Ethics to personally appear before the panel. Velasco said the ethics panel can recommend a fresh sanction on Teves on top of the 60-day suspension. "[The] Committee on Ethics can recommend another disciplinary measure against Congressman Arnie Teves. But we don't want to preclude the Committee on Ethics. We will have to await the decision of the Committee on Ethics on what to do with this new development [Mayor Degamo's letter]," he said.
The secretary general refused to show the letter to media. He described it as "long" and written as if it was a "personal letter" to the House. For now, he said the House legal team will study what to do with the letter.