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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider With 2nd suspension over, what will happen to Cong Teves?

With 2nd suspension over, what will happen to Cong Teves?

Published Jul 30, 2023 02:46 am
Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Facebook)




Embattled Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr.'s second 60-day suspension ends today, Sunday, July 30. This begs the question, what's going to happen to him? The answer quite simply depends on what Teves want to do; he could fly back to the Philippines and show up in the House of Representatives tomorrow, Monday, July 31, and get this thing over with. If he continues to play hardball with the House leadership--as he is expected to do--then it will trigger the same series of actions that have happened during his first two suspensions on account of "disorderly behavior". These actions involve the convening of the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, the recommendation of a penalty by the panel against Teves, and a vote in House plenary on whether or not to adopt such penalty. The catch is, the ethics panel can't keep recommending the same penalty against the Visayan as he continues to go absent without official leave (AWOL) from the House. As of today, Teves, who left the country last Feb. 28, has been slapped with two 60-day suspensions and kicked of his committee memberships. COOP NATCCO Party-list Rep. Felimon Espares, committee chairman, said last July 25 that the panel would begin to "mull expulsion" as the next potential penalty. Obviously, there's no harsher penalty than being expelled from the chamber. The committee has already scheduled a meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1 to discuss Teves' case. And then there's the question of what Teves' political party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), would do with the controversial solon. Last May 31, when the second suspension was handed down in plenary, NPC Secretary General Rizal 1st district Rep. Michael John Duavit appealed to Teves to "take the lifeline" and go home instead of avoiding to do so at all costs. While Duavit didn't mention it, it can be easily construed that the NPC members in the 312-strong House have been bearing the embarrassment of Teves' continued absence. The NPC official said in the same speech that Teves' attempt last month to seek political asylum in Timor-Leste has caused "discredit to the House of Representatives and the Philippine government" since it gave the impression that there were serious problems with the country’s justice system. Teves has refused to go back to the Philippines and report for duty after being tagged as the mastermind in the March 4 assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo. While he has denied the allegations, he claimed that he would get killed once he steps foot in the Philippines.

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Nationalist Peoples Coalition expulsion House of Representatives Gov. Roel Degamo Rep. Arnolfo Teves
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