Teves’ legal counsel says client may challenge House suspension

THE lawyer of Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. said Teves may challenge in court the latest suspension that the House of Representatives imposed against the lawmaker.

“We are not foreclosing...judicial recourses with respect to the actions of the House committee on ethics,” including the first 60-day suspension,” Ferdinand Topacio, Teves’ legal counsel, said.

The lawyer, in an ABS-CBN report, also said while imposing suspensions and penalties against lawmakers is within the powers of the chamber, his client’s rights were violated, “more particularly, the right to due process and equal protection.”

The House of Representatives on Wednesday imposed another 60-day suspension without pay on Teves over his