20-6-2024 (MANILA) In a development that has sent shockwaves through the region, former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves found himself in the clutches of the law on Thursday, June 20th. Detectives from the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Negros Oriental executed an arrest warrant against Teves, alleging violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
The dramatic apprehension unfolded at approximately 8:15 am on Dr. Vicente Locsin Street in Barangay Taclobo, where the 51-year-old former governor was taken into custody. The arrest warrant, issued by Judge Marlon Jay Guillena Moneva of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 on May 13th, set bail at a staggering P200,000.
“Teves was apprehended following his designation as a most-wanted person (MWP) at both the provincial and regional levels,” a press release from the Department of Justice stated, underscoring the gravity of the accusations levelled against the former public official.
The arrest comes in the wake of a turbulent period for the Teves family, with the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) designating Pryde Henry Teves, along with his brother, the now-fugitive ex-congressman Arnie Teves, and 11 others as terrorists in August 2023. The designation cited their alleged involvement in several killings and instances of harassment in Negros Oriental.
Arnie Teves, who has been named as the alleged mastermind behind the 2023 assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, remains a fugitive from justice. However, recent reports indicate that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Timor-Leste has placed him under house arrest, signalling a potential breakthrough in the high-profile case.
The allegations against Pryde Henry Teves gained further traction on March 24th, 2023, when police and military forces conducted a raid on an agribusiness compound registered in his name, seizing multiple firearms and ammunition. Furthermore, during a Senate public inquiry in April 2023, the former governor admitted that his driver was a suspected spotter in the killing of a former provincial government employee, adding to the mounting evidence against him.
