Teves not showing up anytime soon

(UPDATE) NEGROS Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. has filed for a two-month leave of absence for security reasons amid calls from the House of Representatives for him to come home and face the charges filed against him in connection with the killing of Gov. Roel Degamo.In a letter addressed to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Teves vowed to return once the threat to himself and his family has been "dealt with.""The undersigned Representative of the Third District of Negros Oriental humbly plea and request that he be granted a two-month leave of absence due to very grave security threat to his life and his family, to be reckoned from March 9, 2023," Teves said in the letter."Rest assured that he will come back as soon as the threat will be dealt with accordingly under our laws, and with the aid of the government," he added.Romualdez earlier urged Teves to return to the Philippines and face the music.The House Ethics and Privileges Committee, chaired by COOP Natcco party-list Rep. Felimon Espares, convened on Wednesday to discuss Teves' absence.The lawmaker's travel authority expired on March 9.Teves went to the US reportedly for a medical procedure.Espares said that Teves will be given five days to explain why he refuses to come home.Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Wednesday that Teves has left the United States and is now somewhere in Southeast Asia."That's the information I received. That's the briefing I received yesterday," Remulla said in a radio interview."He should come home. What is important is for him to return and face the charges," he added.Teves was in the US when Degamo was assassinated by heavily armed men inside the compound of his residence.He denied any involvement in the killing.Teves' legal counsel said the lawmaker is eager to come home, but he feared for his family's safety.Remulla assured Teves that the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation, among others, will provide protection for him and his family."All he has to do is to request [for security]," the Justice chief said, noting that while he personally knows Teves, he has no direct contact with the lawmaker though they have a lot of mutual friends.The Supreme Court has already granted the request to transfer all the cases that will be filed in connection with the killing of Degamo to the Regional Trial Court of Manila.Remulla made the request to hold the trial in Manila, citing the possible intimidation and harassment of the respondents, private complainants, and witnesses as well as the volatile situation in Negros Oriental after Degamo's murder.Information on three counts of murder and frustrated murder has already been filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tanjay City, Negros Oriental against suspects Joven Javier, Benjie Rodriguez, Joric Labrador and Osmundo Rivero, and 12 other "John Does."Another set of information for three counts of violation of laws on the illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives against three of the respondents was also filed before the RTC of Bayawan City.The four suspects were believed to be among the group of 10 heavily-armed men that barged into the compound of Degamo's residence in Barangay Isidro in Pamplona, Negros Oriental on March 4, killing the governor and some of his constituents.Two of the four suspects named Teves as the mastermind in the killing.Communist connectionA former member of the New People's Army (NPA) was tagged in the killing of Degamo.Special Joint Task Force Negros Maj. Cenon Pancito 3rd said the suspect, Arnil Labradilla of Sitio Awang, Barangay Atotes in the town of Bindoy, Negros Oriental, was the suspect killed during a hot pursuit operation conducted by a joint team of the PNP and the Philippine Army just hours after Degamo's murder.Pancito said they now have a theory that the leader of the assassination team is a former soldier.The military has deployed troops to at least 21 areas in Negros Oriental to maintain peace and order and to hunt down suspects in the Degamo killing.President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., meanwhile, has ordered the formation of a special panel of prosecutors for the case."We are now constituting a panel of prosecutors to handle the Negros Oriental cases and that's the instruction of the President to make sure that a panel that skilled — at this level of skill is already there to evaluate the cases to that no stones will be left unturned," Remulla said.VP Sara visits wake of 'dear friend'Vice President Sara Duterte visited the wake of Degamo in Siaton on Tuesday.She extended her condolences to the families of the victims.Duterte, in an earlier statement, called Degamo "more than a political ally, but a dear friend.""The attack exposes the extent of desperation, depravity, and thirst for violence of the people who masterminded it as they showed an absolute absence of regard for the lives of the five civilians who were among the fatalities — making it all the more appalling an