.png){kind=logo}
2 weeks ago
9
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Gilbert Bayoran - The Philippine Star
January 18, 2026 | 12:00am
Composite photo shows Rep. Janice Degamo (Negros Oriental, 3rd District) and expelled lawmaker Arnolfo Teves Jr.
Congresswoman Janice Vallega Degamo via Facebook; Congressman Arnie A. Teves via Facebook
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Although Rep. Janice Degamo described as “painful and difficult to accept” the acquittal of Arnolfo Teves Jr. in a 2019 murder case in Dumaguete City, she said the former congressman is not yet off the hook.
Degamo, wife of slain Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, said the acquittal did not erase the ongoing court trials related to other murder cases that occurred in Dumaguete in 2019 as well as to the 2023 Pamplona massacre, wherein Teves was accused as the mastermind.
“Those proceedings will continue, and so does our pursuit for accountability,” Degamo, who represents the third district of Negros Oriental, said in a statement.
The Department of Justice said the acquittal of Teves in the 2019 murder case would not affect the charges filed against him in connection with the assassination of the former governor.
Teves is the accused mastermind in the Pamplona massacre, which occurred in the property of the Degamos in Pamplona town on March 4, 2023.
Aside from the governor, nine others were killed in the attack.
Earlier, a Manila court acquitted Teves and two others in the murder of former Negros Oriental board member Miguel Lopez Dungog. They were ordered released from detention.
But Teves will remain in detention as he is facing other charges of murder, frustrated murder and illegal possession of firearms and explosives before various courts in Metro Manila and Negros Oriental.
“Justice is not always swift, and it is never easy. But I believe it will prevail for my husband, for every victim, for every family left behind. We will continue to hope, to endure and to fight for truth and justice,” Degamo said.
She said she would continue supporting other victims of injustice.
“Our pain is shared, our resolve is collective and our voices will not be silenced by setbacks along the way,” she added. — Emmanuel Tupas
