MANILA, Philippines – Suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. on Thursday, June 22, filed a motion with the Department of Justice, asking that the DOJ panel of prosecutors inhibit from the investigation into the killing of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.

He asked that the investigation be referred to and transferred to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Teves argued that the DOJ is supposedly “not an impartial tribunal” since DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla allegedly “prejudged” the case before it was filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

He also claimed that his right to due process was “violated” due to the accusations of Remulla who, he alleged, “obviously has control and supervision” over DOJ prosecutors.

Teves alleged that the DOJ chief displayed partiality against him when Remulla dismissed the credibility of the whistleblower “who claims that the mastermind in the killing of Gov. Degamo was a person other than Teves Jr.”

“With nothing but his mere impression, Sec. Remulla concluded that the surfacing of the said witness was the handiwork of the Teves camp,” the motion read.

The motion added: “Undeniably, the influence exerted by the voice of the Secretary of Justice is too loud and strong for any of his subordinates not to hear his message that Teves Jr. must be the mastermind in the killing of Gov. Degamo, and by almost a direct order, to find probable cause against Teves Jr.”

Negros Oriental’s longtime governor Roel Degamo was slain on March 4, just outside his family’s compound. Suspects in the killing tagged a certain “Congressman Teves” as the alleged brains behind the killing during the early days of probe.

Now, Teves faces murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder complaints in relation to Degamo’s death. The lawmaker had also been at the center of the government’s joint task force, which probed Degamo’s assassination. – Rappler.com