Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Contributed photo)

"Ang sakit ng kalingkingan, sakit ng buong katawan."

That's an old Filipino adage that Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. used to describe the House of Representatives' current relation to Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who had been tagged as a terrorist.

It basically translates to "The pinkie's (little finger) pain is felt by the whole body."

"Kasi first time nangyari yan samin. Ako binabanggit ko nga na mayroon tayong kasabihan, 'Ang sakit ng kalingkingan, sakit ng buong katawan (This is the first this happened to us. That's why I bring up the saying, 'The pinkie's (little finger) pain is felt by the whole body'),'" Abante told House reporters in a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 1.

"In a way, mayroong effect [sa integrity ng House] (There's an effect on the integrity of the House). Pero syempre (But of course), the Committee on Ethics is studying everything we can to be able to offset that kind of impression," he said.

Teves, the alleged mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, has been absent without official leave from the House since mid-March. He is believed to be out of the country.

While he has denied the accusation, he has also refused to come back home for fear of his life.

On Tuesday morning, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) stalwart was declared a terrorist by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

"In a way, affected din kami dito, yung ATC ruling, ATC resolution declaring him (Teves) as a terorista (we are also affected here by the ATC ruling declaring him a terrorist)," admitted Abante, a member of the ethics panel.

'Siya ang nag-cause kung bakit ang buong Kongresong na ito ay under scrutiny (He is the reason why the entire Congress is under scrutiny)," he said.

Teves is one of 312 House members.