Arnolfo Teves Jr. is seen in this undated image. (Photo: The Congress of the Philippines)
A fugitive Filipino politician accused of mass murder has penned an open letter addressing Pope Francis, the United Nations and rights groups including Amnesty International, alleging “political persecution” and sparking an uproar in the Catholic-majority nation.
The Philippine government and family members of the victims have strongly reacted to the letter from former lawmaker Arnolfo Teves Jr., now living under house arrest in Timor-Leste.
In the letter, dated May 27 and published by the Timorese media, Teves sought the intervention of the pope and rights groups for his cause.
The letter has been published by the Philippine media this week.
Teves said he is “humbly” begging for “attention and help” from the Holy See, United Nations and all human rights groups, alleging he was “being politically persecuted” by the current administration in the Philippines.
“You all know the reality in the Philippines. Please do not send me there. I don’t want to be killed. Please save my life,” the letter reads.
He added that the charges against him were “false" and that he was “even presumed guilty before trial.”
“Removed from public office just for dancing on social media, my passport canceled without due cause and even tagged as a terrorist,” he said in the letter.
Teves is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of his political rival and sitting governor of Negros Oriental province, Roel Degamo, and nine others in Pamplona town of the central Philippines on March 4, 2022.
The killings sparked an outcry from rights groups and Church leaders who slammed the culture of violence nurtured by powerful political clans who allegedly maintain private armies to annihilate their rivals.
Degamo was known as an ally of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Teves reportedly fled the country before the killing and was traced and arrested in Timor-Leste on March 21 this year. Following the killing, Teves was stripped of his membership in the parliament.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Timor-Leste placed him under house arrest. The Philippine government officials have said they are making diplomatic efforts for the extradition of Teves.
“He will be under 24-hour security, with only family members permitted to visit him. The government will maintain close oversight of the situation to ensure that all procedures are both valid and appropriate,” the Philippines’ Department of Justice said in a statement on June 13.
On June 12, Mayor Janice Degamo of Pamplona, the widow of the slain governor, termed the recent actions of Teves as a “media stunt."
Addressing Teves, Degamo wrote on her Facebook page on June 12: “You cannot fool NegOrenses [the locals] with your wicked games, your cheap tricks and lies no longer have an effect."
She said that there was no way Teves could escape justice by terming the case politically motivated because the gunmen who murdered her husband named Teves as the mastermind.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla slammed Teves and his camp for “dilly-dallying things” to evade justice.
“Teves is a designated terrorist and fugitive from justice, he is also facing grave charges, such as multiple murders and all of that is a reality... we cannot recognize anything they say unless they present themselves in court,” Remulla said in a statement on June 12.
Rights activists with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International did not respond when UCA News contacted them for a comment.
Teves has reportedly requested political asylum in Timor-Leste while his case is still ongoing in the Philippines.
