Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. (Screenshot from Facebook live)
Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. has claimed in a cable news interview that two "high-ranking" government officials want to have him killed. Teves made this revelation in an ANC Headstart interview on Thursday morning, April 20. But he didn't mention the identities of these officials, saying he could get charged with libel. "Ma'am, mala-libel kasi ako kung sasabihin ko dito eh (Ma'am, I'll get sued for libel if I say it here)," Teves, who is currently out of the country, told anchor Karen Davila. "Opisyal ng gobyerno, dalawa sila. Mataas na opisyal ma'am (Officials of government, two of them. They're high-ranking officials, ma'am)," Teves said when Davila pressed him for details of those who are allegedly plotting to kill him. The Visayas solon, who left the Philippines last Feb. 28, has been tagged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the mastermind in the assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo. Degamo was gunned down inside the compound of his residence on March 4. Referring to one of the two government officials, Teves said: Ang instruction niya ma'am, i-raid yung bahay ko, taniman. Sabay may instruction pa latest, huli ko nang nalaman na ang instruction pala barilin ako direcho dun sa bahay ko, sabihin lang lumaban ako (The instruction was to raid my house, plant evidence. The latest, which I heard belatedly, was to shoot me directly at my house, and just say that I resisted)." Teves said he would have given more details about the two officials had he been allowed by the Senate Committee on Public Order to virtually attend Monday's hearing on the Degamo slay. Senators declined to have Teves appear in the hearing via Zoom at the last minute. The Senate panel chaired by Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa also carried out hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, all "in aid of legislation". Teves later said that it was Dela Rosa himself who invited him to attend Monday's hearing, and that the Zoom platform was OK. Teves said the hearings have been "unfair". He said authorities should look at "all the angles" of the Degamo assassination. The suspended congressman has refused to return to the Philippines for fear of his life.