Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. (Facebook)

Did Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. inadvertently give himself a bigger headache with his failed asylum bid in Timor-Leste?

It looks like it, based on the details shared to Manila-based reporters by House Speaker Martin Romualdez on the sidelines of the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Indonesia.

In an interview on Wednesday night, May 10, Romualdez talked about finally knowing the suspended solon's whereabouts as well as the consequence of the latter having his asylum request junked by the government of Timor-Leste.

"We are aware of that [Teves is in Timor-Leste]. So with the denial there is also a five-day period within which to leave the country, so by tomorrow [Thursday] he has four days to leave Timor-Leste," the House leader said.

What Romualdez meant was, when Timor-Leste denied Teves' request for asylum, the Negros Oriental solon was also given five days to leave the country.

But Romualdez bared that the embattled Teves could have conceivably remained in Timor-Leste for up to a month, had he chosen not to ask for an asylum.

"He has a tourist visa that he could have used for 30 days but he shortened the period by filing for political asylum, which was denied and now he has only five days rather than exhausting that 30-day period for the tourist visa," he said.

In short, Teves needs to find another country that will accept him, and fast.

The Leyte 1st district congressman noted that there's no extradition treaty between the Philippines and Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste is an ASEAN observer-country, while the Philippines is a founding member of the regional bloc.

Teves is the alleged mastermind of the March 4 assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.

He left the Philippines last Feb. 28 and has refused to come back home. He claimed that government officials are out to kill him.