ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Ex-Rep Arnie Teves justifies refusal to enter plea when arraigned by Manila RTC

Ex-Rep Arnie Teves justifies refusal to enter plea when arraigned by Manila RTC

Published Jun 5, 2025 03:45 pm

Expelled congressman Arnolfo “Arnie” A. Teves Jr. justified his decision not to enter any plea, whether guilty or not guilty, when arraigned on Thursday, June 5, by a Manila regional trial court (RTC) on a case involving illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

For his refusal to enter a plea on the charges, RTC Judge Renato Z. Enciso ordered that a plea of “not guilty” be entered on the records of the case.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Teves’ legal counsel, said that his client “refused to enter a plea because of certain legal complications in Timor-Leste.”

Topacio told journalists: “It’s a symbolic act. It’s a legal act in so far as the government of Timor-Leste is concerned. It’s an act of protest as to the actuations of the Philippine government especially the executive branch.”

He explained that Teves’ decision stemmed from the move made by the Timor-Leste government to arrest the former legislator and turn him over to Philippine authorities as part of deportation proceedings for being an undocumented alien.

Prior the arrest of Teves, Topacio reminded that the Timor-Leste’s Tribunal De Recurso denied the request of the Philippine government to have the fugitive extradited.

Following the arrest of Teves, Topacio said the Timor-Leste court granted the petition of the lawyers in issuing a writ of habeas corpus that would compel the government to release the former congressman.

“Dahil nga po hindi sinunod ng gobyerno ng Timor-Leste ‘yung writ of habeas corpus na inisyu ng Tribunal De Recurso ay iimbestigahan po ng parliament ng Timor-Leste kung bakit po tinurn over sa Philippine government si Ginoong Teves (Because the Timor-Leste government did not obey the writ of habeas corpus issued by the Tribunal De Recurso, the Timor-Leste parliament has decided to investigate why Teves was turned over to the Philippine government) notwithstanding the existence of a final and executory court judgment on the request of the Philippine government for extradition and denied the same,” Topacio also said.

Apart from the illegal possession of firearms and explosive case, Manila RTC Branch 12 is also handling a separate case for one count of murder against Teves.

Teves, who has been designated as a terrorist by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), is facing also facing charges for the March 4, 2023 shooting in Pamplona, Negros Oriental that resulted in the deaths of Gov. Roel Degamo and nine other persons.

The Pamplona shooting case is pending before Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 51 where Teves is facing 10 counts of murder, 13 counts of frustrated murder, and four counts of attempted murder.

Teves is also facing one count of murder each before Manila RTC Branch 15 and Bayawan City RTC Branch 63, aside from violation of Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 before Quezon City RTC Branch 77.

Teves is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) facility at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

NBI Director Jaime B. Santiago said the bureau will wait for the orders of other courts on the transfer of Teves to the Manila City jail.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.