Negros Oriental Rep. Janice Degamo, widow of slain Governor Roel Degamo, called out lawyer Ferdinand Topacio for referring to the arrest of former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo ‘Arnie’ Teves Jr. as a “trophy” for the Marcos administration.
“It is appalling to hear Atty. Topacio continuously refer to Arnie Teves as a ‘trophy’ for the Marcos administration. Let’s set the record straight, this is not about politics, this is about justice,” Degamo said in a statement on Thursday.
Degamo condemned Topacio’s remarks, calling it a “slap in the face” to the families of the victims of what she described as the Teves Terrorist Group.
She said that the victims, including her husband, “weren’t political casualties,” but real people whose lives were “brutally taken” from their families.
“Instead of turning every issue into a political drama, Atty. Topacio should focus on what truly matters: explaining why at least two of the gunmen who murdered my husband directly named his client as the mastermind,” Degamo said.
“We will not be distracted. We will not be silenced. We will see this through,” she added.
Teves was arrested by East Timor authorities on Tuesday evening and deported on Thursday to face murder charges in the Philippine. He is accused of orchestrating the so-called ‘Pamplona massacre,’ which resulted in the death of Governor Degamo and nine others.
