THE Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 issued an order allowing former Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, Jr. to post bail.
Teves’ lawyer, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, said that order is a manifestation that the case against his client is weak.
Topacio also said that despite the issuance of a 29-page order granting bail to Teves, the latter will still not be released, due to the other cases he is facing.
According to Topacio, they still have pending bail petitions in two other cases and that Teves will only be able to get released the moment all bail petitions they have lodged have been approved.
The order dated September 10, 2025 which sets the bail at P120,000 is in connection with the case stemming from the murder of Lester Bato, bodyguard of Basay mayoralty candidate Cliff Cordova, in May 2019.
However, Teves is also facing a case of murder for the deaths of two individuals in Negros Oriental also in 2019 and stands accused for the cases of murder, attempted murder and frustrated murder relative to the shooting death of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and several others, right inside the governor’s compound in Pamplona, Negros Oriental on March 4, 2023.
