EDITORIAL — Again, Arnie, come home

In this age of live-streaming, even a person who has been charged in court for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and gun-related offenses will eventually have to face the court in person for arraignment. Since such charges typically don’t allow bail, when the court issues an arrest warrant, the defendant will have to be held in jail while undergoing trial.

If ever a court orders the arrest of Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. and he still refuses to return to the Philippines, he will then be considered a fugitive. He has already been described as such by Philippine officials, who stressed that flight normally indicates guilt.

Teves has denied involvement in the brazen attack on March 4 that killed Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo right in his own home in Pamplona together with eight others. A 10th victim, a civilian, died on May 6. Degamo’s widow Janice, the mayor of Pamplona, has pointed to the Teves clan as the principal perpetrators – an accusation that both Teves and his brother Pryde Henry, a former Negros Oriental congressman, have denied.

Now the accusations against Arnolfo Teves have become official. He already faces separate murder charges before the justice department in connection with killings in Negros Oriental in 2019 – something he has also denied. All the cases are still with the Department of Justice, but they are likely to be filed soon in court.

If Teves is truly innocent, the quickest way for him to establish this and get his life back is to come home and face the music. He could be expelled soon from the House of Representatives and be designated by the government as a terrorist. If he wants to clear his name decisively, there is no escaping in-person attendance at certain stages of litigation.

Government officials led by President Marcos himself have assured Teves of his safety upon his return; they will be held to that promise. Pryde Henry has publicly urged his brother to come home and face the charges, to clear the family name as soon as possible. The longer Arnolfo Teves stays away from the country, the more he is reinforcing perceptions that his flight indicates guilt.