Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — A regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has claimed that suspended Rep. Arnie Teves threatened to file charges against him and his men should they continue to raid e-sabong operations in Cebu.
“He (Teves) said he will sue my men for stealing ₱7 million at the cockpit,” NBI Central Visayas director Renan Oliva said. “He (Teves) continues to say he will spare me from the case if I make it negative of any incoming operation against e-sabong.”
The NBI official said despite the threats, Teves told him that “he was not connected to e-sabong activities and that he had already delegated that to his friends.”
Oliva presented himself on Wednesday, the third day of the Senate hearing on the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
According to Oliva, the raid in 2022 led to the arrest of two cockpit operators and 37 other employees, who were caught livestreaming an e-sabong operation.
They faced charges in violation of Presidential Decree 1602, which penalizes illegal gambling, in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
In February 2023, Oliva said they received a complaint for theft now amounting to ₱7 million after the NBI refiled the case against the cockpit operators and employees.
On Tuesday, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the wife of the slain governor, said brothers former governor Pryde Henry Teves and the suspended lawmaker are linked to various illegal activities such as e-sabong and lottery operations.
The accusation was denied by Pryde Teves.
READ: Degamo’s widow: Teves brothers ‘source of threats’ vs. governor
