Suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo 'Arnie' Teves is still in Cambodia, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin 'Boying' Remulla said on Tuesday.
"He's still in Cambodia. I think he's still there," he told reporters during an interview.
Teves is tagged as the "main mastermind" in the brutal assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, and he is facing multiple murders in connection to the killings in Negros Oriental in 2019.
His legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio earlier pronounced that the Congressman will not be returning home unless the national government complies with "certain requests" about his security.
Meanwhile, the Justice Chief said he has met and talked with Teves' brother former Negros Oriental governor Prydeenry Teves who is also tagged as the mastermind in Degamo's murder.
"He just repeated his public statements about his waiver and he disclosed to me all of these things in front of our DOJ staff," Remulla shared.
"Actually, he is in the process of trying to clear his name that he's not involved in this incident and has no idea that this is going to happen, and that he just wants to live in peace," he added.
On the other hand, ahead of the Senate hearing on Degamo's case, Remulla advised Senators to avoid influencing the outcome of the investigation.
The said hearing schedule is on next Monday, April 17, and Senator Bato Dela Rosa's committee will lead the probe.
Dela Rosa earlier assured the public that the hearing will not look like a "kangaroo court" or a court that disregards the standards of justice.
