Security Adviser Eduardo Año MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Following the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) confirmation and condemnation of the deaths of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon, National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo M. Año said that the “Communist Terrorist Group” (CTG) is now lost without its pivotal leaders.
This follows the CPP’s allegation that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) tortured and killed the Tiamzon couple and eight other members.
READ: Tiamzon couple, 8 other communists tortured and slain by AFP — CPP
“With the death of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison and now the Tiamzon couple, the Communist Terrorist Group is now headless with no clear national leadership. They have lost both their guiding light in the person of Joma and their commander in the Tiamzons and are now groping in the dark with no direction nor future in sight,” said Año in a statement.
READ: CPP founder Joma Sison dies at 83
Año claimed that the government has long suspected the two communist leaders to be dead, but denied the CPP’s version of Tiamzons’ deaths.
“They are now trapped in their own web of lies, which deserves scant comment. Needless to say, there is no truth whatsoever in this clearly fabricated story and we stand by the official reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” said the NSA chief.
Previous reports said that the Tiamzons were believed killed in a military encounter in Samar in 2022.
READ: AFP still waiting for DNA result of retrieved human remains after Samar clash
The CPP, however, asserted that Tiamzon and the other rebels were abducted by the military whilst unarmed.
Nonetheless, Año welcomed the CPP’s confirmation of the couple’s death.
“The death of the Tiamzons is just the latest in the string of defeats that show the clear decimation of Communist terrorism in our country which includes the recent arrest of notorious terrorist Eric Jun Casilao in Langkawi, Malaysia in a successful joint law enforcement operation with the Malaysian authorities,” said Año.
READ: Eric Casilao’s kin, lawyers expect to see alleged NPA leader in person, as promised by CIDG
Año urged members of the CPP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front to surrender.
“Now is the time for them to lay down their arms and rejoin mainstream society for the peace and development of the Filipino nation,” said the security adviser.
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