Teves transferred to BJMP’s Taguig jail

Expelled Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. has been moved to a high-security jail in Bicutan after two Manila courts ordered his transfer from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Jr. has been moved to a high-security jail in Bicutan after two Manila courts ordered his transfer from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branches 12 and 51 issued separate commitment orders directing NBI officials to turn Teves over to the Metro Manila District Jail Annex 2 at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The transfer followed the decision of Branch 51 denying Teves’s request to remain under NBI custody. The court found “absolutely no basis” under Philippine law for such an arrangement.

It also dismissed arguments that a certificate of handover signed by Timor-Leste officials — where Teves was arrested in May — gave special authority to the Department of Justice.

“Nowhere in the said document did it state that only the DoJ shall take custody of the accused as a prerequisite for his transfer to Philippine authorities,” the court said.

Teves, who was deported from Timor-Leste on 28 May, had argued through his lawyer that being placed in a regular jail would endanger his life and violate international protections against torture or inhumane treatment.

The court rejected this outright, describing his fears as “unfounded” and even “an outright insult to the trained professionals that run facilities for persons deprived of liberty.”

“While the detention facilities in our country may not possess the luxuries a person may have been accustomed to, the detention therein does not automatically make it inhuman or degrading,” the court said.

It found that Teves had failed to present evidence of credible or imminent threats to his safety and said the petition stemmed more from “convenience” than necessity.

Court records showed that Branch 12 had issued an earlier order on 30 May to transfer Teves to BJMP custody. That order was invoked by both courts in accordance with a Supreme Court memorandum that gives weight to the first-issued directive in case of overlap.

Teves is facing multiple counts of murder and frustrated murder, including for the March 2023 killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and several others.

He was arrested in Dili, Timor-Leste after months on the run and was briefly held at the NBI upon his return to Manila.