Teves weighs options to counter ‘terrorist’ label

SUSPENTED Negros Oriental Rep. Ar- nolfo Teves Jr. is weighing options to counter a move by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) declaring him as a terrorist.

Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said they expected the designation since it was already mentioned before by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

“We are just waiting for a formal declaration of the ATC so we can file appropriate remedies either administrative or in court,” Topacio said. Topacio has also said their camp seeks to appeal Teves’ terrorist designation before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or the Regional Trial Courts.

“We are carefully weighing our options. We are also trying to reach out to the lawyers of the others because sometimes what stops us from reaching out to these lawyers might be accusations of collusion,” Topacio said.

He ruled out however, the idea of filing an appeal before the ATC, saying “it will be futile.”

“Because those people have already made up their minds,” he stressed. Approved on July 26, ATC’s Resolution Number 43 tagged Arnie, his brother former governor Pryde Henry Teves, and 11 others as terrorists over several alleged killings and harassment cases in Negros Oriental.

Apolonio said there was no distress signal prior to the disappearance of the Cessna training aircraft.

The plane left Laoag airport at 12:16 p.m. Tuesday and was supposed to arrive at Tuguegarao Airport three hours later.

The aircraft with two persons on board, a pilot instructor and a student pilot, was bound for Caua an Airport for a touch and go activity, then to the Tuguegarao Airport.

Apolonio said another aircraft with registration number RP-C9062 left Laoag minutes earlier and “was able to successfully land at Tuguegarao Airport at 1:09 p.m.”

The Cessna 152 is an American two-seater, fixed-tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. CAAP officials said there was no distress signal on the time when the Cessna training aircraft went missing in Cagayan last Tuesday.