The detained suspect should present evidence to prove he was forced and tortured to admit his participation and the involvement of Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” A. Teves Jr. in the killings of Gov. Roel R. Degamo and nine other persons on March 4, 2023. Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony D. Fadullon, in an interview on CNN Philippines on Wednesday, May 24, said the panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has received the affidavit of recantation of suspect Jhudiel R. Rivero. “The matter of having to prove it is now with Rivero because it does not follow that just because he recanted what he is saying now is the absolute truth,” Fadullon pointed out. Aside from Rivero, three other detained suspects in the March 4 killings -- Dahniel P. Lora, Romel A. Pattaguan and Rogelio C. Antipolo Jr. – have also recanted their supposed testimonies given after their arrest last March 5. Copies of their affidavits of recantation were not available. On the alleged force and torture, Fadullon said: “If it is true, then anybody who may have been responsible for it, if proven to be correct, may be held responsible or may be held accountable.” “However, if for example it turns out these allegations cannot be supported, something which cannot be backed up by evidence, then the one who makes the recantation should likewise face the full force of the law,” he warned. Thus, he said, “it is incumbent upon the person to now present proofs of the facts he is now alleging in his affidavit of recantation.” On the lament of Atty. Danny Villanueva, the lawyer of the four suspects, that the DOJ panel of prosecutors required the submission of documents to support the affidavits of recantation, Fadullon said: “I think it is only correct for the panel to require the submission of documents to support whatever allegations are contained in the affidavit of recantation.” Since Rivero alleged he got tortured, Fadullon said the detainee should show, for example, “medico-legal reports, affidavits of examinations by doctors and probably record of the injuries and any complaint that he may have filed as a consequence there of is something will have to be submitted if only to justify or if only to lend credence or support to the contents of his affidavit of recantation.” After his arrest in Negros Oriental last March, Rivero and his co-suspects were turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last March 7. Fadullon said that Rivero, immediately on the day of his arrival at the NBI, was “subjected to medical examination as a standard operating procedure in receiving detainees and complaint would have been raised already there.” “There were lawyers who assisted him from the Public Attorney’s Office during the taking of his statements and right off they were given the opportunity to talk and there would have been the opportunity for him to ask for examination if he felt that the first one was something that was questionable,” he said. Also, he said, the participation of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) could have been raised “to check if there is any proof of torture that was committed.” “All these are being brought forward only now practically a month and a half after they were brought to Manila,” he said. He, however, expressed belief that the more truthful statements were the first ones done by Rivero. “So, the closer the statement is to the time when the incident actually happened, closest to March 4, it is something that is fresh in the memory of a witness and therefore it something that should be given credence,” he explained. On the filing of criminal complaints for 10 murder, 14 frustrated murder, and four attempted murder against Teves, Fadullon said: “We already finished the evaluation. The records have already been and will be forwarded, if I am not mistaken, by this morning (Wednesday, May 24) to the panel that would conduct the investigation on the new cases that were filed by the National Bureau of Investigation,” he added, The DOJ’s panel of prosecutors is expected to subpoena Teves and his co-respondents to file their counter-affidavits. Teves has been abroad even after the expiration of his travel authority last March 9.  He cited “security reasons” for not returning to the country.  He has denied allegations against him in the Degamo killing.