🇵🇭🇹🇱 No home in Dili for key massacre suspect
In Manila, DoJ prepares charges for Arnolfo Teves Jr.
Hello friends!
An update from the other half of Southeast Asia today. The week has been preoccupied with Asean chat, but as is the usual way of Dari Mulut ke Mulut, we will wait for final statements and reports over the weekend for an update next.
The first portion of today’s premium newsletter is free to read for everyone because I am obsessed with this strange Philippines-Timor Leste story. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please consider doing so! All Asean and Timorese nationals under 30 are welcome to a free annual subscription, just hit reply and let me know a bit about yourself.
See you tomorrow for our final pre-election update from Thailand
Erin Cook
🇵🇭 Growth numbers are in
Growth continued in the Philippines’ economy in the first quarter of the year. It’s up 6.4% on the same period a year earlier and slightly above the expected 6.2%. Still, Bloomberg notes, it’s the slowest rate since the pandemic recovery began. Consumption is slowing with inflation continuing to bite ordinary families.
Anyway, that’s our meat. Let’s get to the very weird potatoes of this week. For the first, and maybe only ever time, this newsletter shall combine our Philippines and Timor-Leste sections because my jaw is all the way on the floor!
🇵🇭 🇹🇱 A bewildering longshot from murder suspect
We’ve had a few updates on the horrendous Negros Occidental massacre this March in which 10 people were killed, including the province’s governor Roel Degamo. Local congressman Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. quickly came under suspicion for involvement in the plot and fled the country. Attempts to hold him accountable have been dodged, with Teves saying he expects to be murdered if he were to return to the Philippines to face justice.
On Tuesday, Filipino media reported the congressman had popped up in Timor-Leste where he planned to seek asylum. I was very stunned by this development. Timor-Leste does have a reputation in the region as the most ardent supporter of human rights, democracy and justice. A foreign lawmaker facing seriously credible allegations of orchestrating the slaying of a rival and others doesn’t exactly scream the type of issue Dili would like to stick its next out for. Not to mention, Asean, including Filipino President Bongbong Marcos Jr, is meeting this week with Timor-Leste’s full membership on the table.
Understandably, the Timorese government moved quickly to wash the case aside. News outlet Lusa, via Antonio Sampaio on Facebook, reported Teves had arrived in Timor via a private plane. “The asylum application has been assessed and based on the immigration and asylum law, the immigration services have considered you not to qualify,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. While Teves can appeal the decision — it seems extremely unlikely to prevail — he has five days to leave the country.
Back in Manila, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday that an Interpol notice has been issued. The Department of Foreign Affairs will have his passport cancelled after the Department of Justice files murder charges, expected tomorrow or Monday, as reported by the Inquirer.
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