Remulla: Timor-Leste 'complicating' Teves extradition, putting ASEAN bid at risk

Metro Manila, Philippines - Timor-Leste is "complicating" the extradition of expelled lawmaker Arnolfo Teves, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

The Timor-Leste court rejected the Philippine government’s request to deport Teves, who is facing multiple murder charges over the killing of former Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others.

The justice chief said they will file a motion for reconsideration, adding that other government agencies are also acting on bringing Teves back.

"This matter is just a very simple matter of an undocumented Filipino who’s accused of a crime to be returned to the country. For them to complicate it is a big stretch, and there are a million reasons for this to happen," Remulla said in a chance interview on Tuesday, March 25.

“His passport has been canceled. All they have to do is deport him here,” he said.

Last June, the Timor-Leste Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the government. Teves, in turn, appealed based on procedural grounds. The court denied his motion, and the former lawmaker appealed again.

Remulla brought up that Timor-Leste’s bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could be at risk with the developments in Teves’ case.

“It is not going to be pleasant for Timor-Leste because they're trying to be in the ASEAN and we are one of the founding fathers of the ASEAN,” he said.

Meanwhile, Teves' lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said asking Timor-Leste to deport the former official would be asking the Asian nation to "obliquely transgress its Constitution."

“The decision of the Timor Leste (TL) court denying extradition was based on the ground that repatriating Mr. Teves would subject him to torture and cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment in his country of origin, in violation of the TL Constitution,” Topacio told reporters in a message.

"Why is the Secretary of Justice the one issuing threats to a country with which we have diplomatic relations? Aside from being unseemly, he should mind his place in the governmental hierarchy,” he stated.

Earlier, the Department of Justice raised concern on Timor-Leste’s “sudden shift” in its decision.