State wants Tiamzons in Manila jail

Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army chief Benito Tiamzon (left) and his wife, Wilma (right). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A government prosecutor involved in the multiple murder case against Benito and Wilma Tiamzon said they should be detained in the Manila City Jail and it was “utter disrespect” on the part of the Philippine National Police to ask the Manila Regional Trial Court for continued custody of the couple without consulting the prosecution.

“(The arresting officers) should have sought conformity, which they never did. We’re on the same side. (The Tiamzons) should be committed to the Manila City Jail, the nearest jail to the court,” said Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong during a clarificatory court hearing on Tuesday.

Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, chair and chief finance officer, respectively, of the Communist Party of the Philippines, are currently detained in Camp Crame in Quezon City, the national police headquarters. They are coaccused in a multiple murder case in connection with a mass grave discovered by the military in Inopacan, Leyte, in 2006.

The skeletal remains that were found were believed to be those of victims of “Operation Venereal Disease” launched by the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front to purge their ranks of suspected military informers.