The Department of Justice (DoJ) claimed that the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo is 99.9% solved following the arrest of a suspect. However, the head legal counsel of embattled Negros Oriental Third District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who is being implicated as a possible mastermind behind the murder, disagrees. Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said that it is too early to claim it is 99.9% solved and challenged the DoJ to present its evidence against his client in a proper legal forum. Topacio also stated that the case must be resolved solely on the merits of evidence presented to the court by both sides, and not through trial by publicity. Meanwhile, Counsel for the individuals arrested during the raid at the sugar mill of former Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves said they will seek the intervention of the Commission on Human Rights, claiming the police have been forcing his clients to confess that it was the Teves brothers who ordered them to bury the firearms, ammunition, and explosives found on the property.
