FORMER Negros Oriental representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr., along with Richard Cuadra and Rolando Pinili, has been acquitted in a 2019 murder case, a Manila court has ruled.
In a 35-page decision dated January 5, 2026, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 Presiding Judge Eduardo Ramon Reyes granted the demurrers to evidence filed by the three accused, citing the prosecution’s failure to establish a prima facie case. The court acquitted Teves, Cuadra, and Pinili of the crime charged against them.
The case stemmed from three murder cases filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP CIDG) in relation to the killing of three individuals in 2019, according to a report by Luisito Santos of Super Radyo dzBB. The jail wardens of the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa and the Manila City Jail-Male Dormitory were directed to release Teves, Cuadra, and Pinili from custody, unless held for some other lawful case.
Despite this acquittal, Teves remains in detention at the NBI facility in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, as he is also facing murder, attempted murder, and frustrated murder charges in connection with the killing of the late Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and others on March 4, 2023.
He also faces other charges, including a murder case before the Bayawan RTC Branch 63, illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and terrorist financing. Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, Teves’ legal counsel, hailed the acquittal as evidence that the cases against Teves are “nothing but harassment suits meant to persecute a political opponent.”
metrosundaily
