'Like a circus': Teves shrugs off DOJ's plan to tag him as a terrorist
Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. (left) and Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla (Facebook)
Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. simply brushed aside the plan of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to tag him as a terrorist, and described the situation as akin to a "circus". "Ang pakiramdam ko sa totoo lang nakakatawa na. Nagiging perya na siya (To me, it has become laughable. It’s becoming to be a circus)," Teves said in a virtual press briefing Monday afternoon, April 17. "It’s becoming to be a circus. Paano ka magiging terorista kung hindi ka pa nga nakakasuhan (How would I become a terrorist if there is no case)," added the suspended congressman. In a Senate hearing earlier that day on the March 4 ambush-slay of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla appeared and said that the Anti-Terrorism Act could be cited against Teves. Remulla had previously tagged Teves as the mastermind behind Degamo's killing. The Visayas solon left for the United States (US) last Feb. 28 and has refused to come back home for fear of his life. He has been reported to be in Cambodia, and subsequently in South Korea. He went into detail during the briefing as to the threat to his life. “Ang kinakatakot ko ang foul play. Meron kasi akong intel na ang balak pala nila sa pag-raid ng bahay ko… huli ko na nga nalaman eh, na may instruction pala dun na sabihin lang lumaban ako pinapabaril nila ako (What I fear is foul play. I received Intel that what they planned on doing when they raid my house is...I belatedly learned about this, the instruction was to have me shot and make it appear that I resisted)," he said.