AFP denies capturing gardener at house rented by Tiamzons

MANILA, Philippines - The military on Wednesday denied that it has captured the gardener at the house leased by communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, who were arrested last month in Cebu.

Armed Forces Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Maj. Gen. John Bonafos described as “baseless” claims that the gardener, previously identified as Gary Aguilar Santos, is being held captive by security forces.

“We cannot confirm nor deny that there really is a Mr. Gary Aguilar Santos because he was not with the Tiamzons during the actual arrest and neither was he there at the safe house during the raid,” Bonafos said in a statement.

“What (human rights group) Karapatan is accusing us is completely false and baseless,” he added.

Earlier, Karapatan claimed that Santos has been missing since March 22, the same day the Tiamzons were arrested for murder charges in Cebu.

The group claimed that Santos was employed as a gardener by Rex and Lorraine Villaflor, the couple that leased the house to the Tiamzons. Karapatan said Lorraine’s last communication with Santos was on March 22 at around 4 p.m., a few hours after the arrest.

“Upon hearing the news report on the search operations at their house, Lorraine and Rex expressed their concern about the gardener who was left alone at the house,” the group said in its website.

Karapatan demanded the “immediate surfacing and release” of Santos, whom the group said might be tortured by soldiers and policemen.

CENTCOM spokesman Navy Lt. Jim Alagao maintained that Santos is not under their custody.

“We do not know if that name really belongs to an existing person or something that was just made up,” he said.

Alagao claimed that the military and police uphold human rights and strictly adhere to the International Humanitarian Law. (with a report from Zaphyr Iral)