Benito and Wilma Tiamzon / INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon, together with eight other members, were killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), according to the Party’s statement on Thursday.
The Tiamzons had been on the Party’s peace talks panel with the government. They had been previously convicted of kidnapping and illegal detention of four government troopers.
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“The entire leadership and membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines condemn in the strongest terms the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the brutal torture and cowardly killing of Party leaders Benito Tiamzon (Ka Laan) and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon (Ka Bagong-tao),” said CPP’ Chief Communication Officer Marco Valbuena in a statement.
Valbuena said that the ten revolutionaries were captured in Samar province on August 21, 2022. At the time of their capture, they were reportedly unarmed.
“The Tiamzons suffered a severe beating in the hands of their captors. Internal reports cited witnesses who saw how the faces and bodies of the victims were smashed, apparently beaten with hard objects,” said Valbuena.
The CPP also disputed the AFP’s previous report that suspected that the Tiamzon were killed in a boat explosion.
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“In truth, the already lifeless bodies of the Tiamzons and their group were dumped on a motorboat filled with explosives and tugged from Catbalogan midway towards Taranganan island before it was detonated. Only eight bodies were subsequently retrieved by the military,” said the CPP spokesperson.
According to the CPP, the Tiamzons deaths followed a pattern of “willful killings” against the Party’s revolutionaries.
“The Party demands justice for the August 21 massacre of the Tiamzons et al. Their capture, torture, and killing were directed by the top officers of the AFP,” said the CPP.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to the AFP for a comment but has yet to receive a response as of writing.