Tiamzons released for talks

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 yesterday granted bail to communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon ahead of the scheduled peace talks in Oslo, Norway later this month.

The court also allowed Adelberto Silva to join the Tiamzon couple. They will each pay P100,000 bail for their temporary liberty.

In a four-page resolution, Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina granted the urgent motions for release on bail filed by the Tiamzon couple and Silva.

They requested clearance to travel to Oslo and join the peace negotiations with the Philippine government as consultants of the National Democratic Front (NDF).

The NDF is representing the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army in the peace negotiations with the government.

The Tiamzons and Silva are facing multiple murder charges in the killing of 15 civilians discovered in a mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte in 2006.

The military arrested the Tiamzons, said to be leaders of the NPA, along with five others in 2014.

Benito Tiamzon is identified as the chairman of the CPP-NPA while his wife Wilma is the secretary general.

Silva, on the other hand, is identified as the CPP’s secretary general and chief of the CPP-NPA’s national organization department.

The NDF said the Tiamzons are among its peace consultants and should be immune from arrest under the initial agreement with the government in 1995.

In allowing the Tiamzons and Silva to post bail, the court granted them temporary freedom during the duration of the peace talks in Oslo on Aug. 20 to 27.

The court also ordered the respondents to report to the Philippine embassy in Norway whenever required.

The same conditions were given to Vicente Ladlad, Randall Echanis and former Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) party-list representative Satur Ocampo in a resolution issued by the Supreme Court on Aug. 2.

However, the Tiamzons and Silva are still awaiting the decisions of the other courts where they are also facing criminal charges. – Christina Mendez