The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 12 has scheduled hearings extending into 2026 for three criminal cases against expelled Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr.

This comes as the court conducted a pretrial hearing Tuesday for Teves, who faces two counts of murder and one count of illegal possession of firearms.

Teves’ legal counsel, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, confirmed that the former lawmaker attended the pretrial via video teleconference.

“What happened here is that the court held a pretrial with respect to Congressman Teves, because when the first pretrial happened, he was still in Timor Leste,” Topacio said. “There was a setting of the cases, the hearings for two things: number one, the petition for bail.”

“We requested the court to order the prosecution to bring back the witnesses so we can cross-examine them,” he added.

Topacio also disclosed that the court has set hearings for the main cases, with dates extending until 2026. The next hearing is scheduled for 4 August.

Topacio maintained that his client’s legal team is not attempting to stall the proceedings, contrary to claims by some. He said their camp also wants the case to be resolved quickly.