MANILA – Former Negros Oriental congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. was not being given special treatment at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, his legal counsel Atty. Ferdinand Topacio said.
According to Topacio, contrary to what National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Dionisio Santiago said, Teves is sharing a room with another inmate inside the national penitentiary.
“Just to be clear, while Director Santiago of the NBI stated during yesterday’s presser that Congressman Teves will — in the meantime — be alone in a cell in Building 14, we have agreed to abide by all rules for detention prisoners, including sharing of cells,” he said.
“This is to prevent any possible criticism against Directoe Santiago, whom I have known for quite some time, and personally hold in the highest esteem,” Topacio added in a statement.
Topacio said Teves will thus share a 10-square meter cell with a bunk bed with another inmate, having a common toilet bowl and a small electric fan, which is the same as any other cell.
Teves, the suspected mastermind in the killing of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, is back in the Philippines after having been deported on Thursday last week by authorities in Timor-Leste, where he sought asylum.
Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Office’s Assistant Secretary Erel Cabatbat said the deportation and eventual extraction Teves was an enforcement of the law by the government.
“Kami po ay nagpapatupad lamang ng batas at ginawa lang po namin ang aming tungkulin. Hindi po ako privy sa naging usapan, pero maaring nakatulong po ang ginawang pakikipag-ugnayan ng ating Pangulo sa Presidente at Prime Minister ng Timor,” Cabatbat said.
He added: “We have differing opinions, and we respect the opinion of his son. But what happened is the enforcement of the law. There are arrest warrants for him, and we need to serve them, and so we need to bring him back home.”/PN
