The National Bureau of Investigation filed criminal complaints for terrorism financing and providing material support to terrorists before the Department of Justice against expelled Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr. and 15 other persons including his brother, former governor Henry Pryde, and son Axel.

This was confirmed yesterday by DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV, saying the NBI filed another complaint against the expelled lawmaker and several other persons.

"We already received a report from the Anti-Money Laundering Council. This case could be the result of that report)," Clavano, also the DOJ spokesperson, said.

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, the legal counsel of Arnie, said the panel of prosecutors assigned to the case conducted the first hearing on the preliminary investigation of the complaint filed by the NBI at the DOJ main office in Manila on Wednesday, 13 December.

Topacio said it is the first hearing on the new case that was filed against 16 persons including Teves and his son. Topacio, during the hearing, said he asked the panel for a copy of the complaint and also recounted that the panel promised to give copies of the complaint on 19 December 19.

The complaint against the 16 respondents falls under Section 4 of Republic Act 10168, the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012; and providing material support to terrorists as defined and penalized under RA 11479, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The other respondents in the complaint include Marvin H. Miranda, Dany O. Coral, Ana Lisa G. Sy, Jose Roel V. Teves, Giovani A. Teves, Thomas A. Teves, Czarina Teresa B. Teves, Capt. Llyod C. Garcia II, Niel Andrew Go, Jason Vergara, Angelo Palagtiw, and a certain Gee Ann.

Topacio said that the law says one is liable if one is financing things that have to do with terrorism, but Topacio could not provide details about what accusations were made since he has yet to read the contents of the complaints.

"I saw the copies with the prosecutors and were three reams thick or around 1,500 pages. It's so thick," Topacio said.
He said that once they get copies of the complaints they will read them and ask for more time to answer.

On the other hand, Clavano revealed that DOJ prosecutors have filed a motion before a court seeking the cancellation of Teves' passport, and they are just waiting on the resolution of their motion.

Topacio though said he has already filed an opposition to the motion of the prosecution. Teves, aside from the complaint pending before the DOJ, is already facing multiple charges in court.

Arrest warrants have already been issued against Arnie Teves for multiple murder charges in the 4 March 2023 killings in Pamplona town in Negros Oriental. One of the 10 persons killed was Negros Oriental Gov. Roel R. Degamo.

The court also issued warrants of arrest against Arnie Teves for the murder of three persons in 2019: A former Negros Oriental board member and former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent Michael Dungog; Lester Bato, a bodyguard of Basay mayoralty candidate Cliff Cordova; and Pacito Libron, an alleged hitman associated with the expelled congressman other parts of the court building and burned down several government offices.