Manila court allows Arnie Teves to post bail in 2019 murder case

A Manila court has granted the bail petition of former Negros Oriental representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. in a 2019 murder case.

Despite this, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, his legal counsel, said Teves cannot be freed yet. 

“There is one more pending case,” Topacio said in a message to reporters.

In the 27-page resolution, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 30 set the bail for the former lawmaker at P500,000. 

This is over the alleged killing of victim Pacito Libron in June 2019 at Bayawan City, Negros Oriental.

The RTC said the prosecution argued there was a conspiracy in the killing of Libron, with a witness claiming that Teves was the one who ordered the hit.

“With regard to the allegation of conspiracy, the Court finds that the prosecution failed to establish that the evidence of conspiracy was strong amongst all the accused in allegedly killing herein victim Pacito Libron,” it said.

However, the court said that the accused should be held accountable separately for their own individual actions based on what can be proven during the trial.

Meanwhile, the RTC set the bail for his co-accused at P250,000.

The RTC said this is because of Teves’ status as a former congressman.

“The Court also does not ignore the fact that a few years ago, accused Teves fled the country and tried to seek asylum in East Timor. Thus, the Court finds that a higher amount should be fixed as to accused Teves in order to balance the scales of justice,” it said.

Teves is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation’s facility in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

He is also facing multiple counts of murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder over the alleged killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and others in 2023.—AOL, GMA News