'Scientific' basis: Teves says US court would summon dog 'witness' to Degamo slay
(Screenshot from CCTV footage)
Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. believes that a United States (US) courtroom would find "scientific" grounds to "summon" the dog that witnessed the assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo. Teves had this to say in an interview over ANC Headstart Thursday morning, April 20 as he insisted that the dog at the Degamo residence was familiar with the governor's killers. Degamo was slain by a group of gunmen last March 4 inside the compound of his residence in Pamplona, Negros Oriental. There were at least two dogs in the area at that time. "Kung makita mo yung video, wala namang resistance pagpasok ng mga tao. Di ba? Kung tao yun ng kalaban, dapat hindi pinapasok ng guwardiya (If you can see the video, there was no resistance to the entry of the gunmen. Right? If they were with the enemy, then the guard shouldn't have let them in)," Teves said. "Pati nga yung aso, nagwagayway yung buntot (Even the dog wagged it's tail)," he said. "Alam mo yan, scientific yan, yung aso. Kung sa Amerika lang to na korte, baka pinatawag yung aso, iche-check yung pagkakakilala nung aso sa mga tao. Talaga (You know, there is scientific basis about the dog. If this was with an American court, it would have summoned the dog to check on its familiarity with the gunmen. Really)," he claimed. The dogs scurried off as soon as the shooting began based on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the killing. The suspended congressman has claimed in past social media postings that the dog "knew" Degamo’s killers since it didn't bark at them. Teves is tagged as the mastermind of the broad-daylight assassination. He is currently out of the country and refuses to come back home for fear of his life. So far no cases have been filed against Teves in connection with the killing.