THE police will launch a manhunt against communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon after a Manila court ordered them rearrested, a Palace spokesman said Wednesday.
“Police must hunt them down. That’s what’s expected of them,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 ordered the couple rearrested, along with their co-accused National Democratic Front consultant Adelberto Silva, after the Justice department moved to have their bail canceled.
The move to rearrest communist leaders comes after President Rodrigo Duterte ended peace talks with the NDF in November 2017. The government then moved to have communist leaders who were temporarily released on bail to join the peace talks rearrested.
Earlier this month, Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 32 granted the Justice Department’s motion for their recommitment and cancellation of their bail.
“Having judiciously evaluated the contentions of the parties, they find that the recommitment and the cancellation of the respective bail bonds of accused Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Tiamzon and Silva are warranted under the facts at hand,” the judge said.
“Inarguably, the sole reason for their grant was to enable said accused to participate in the peace process.”
The Tiamzons were charged with murder after the discovery of a mass grave in Leyte containing suspected victims of a communist purge in the 1980s.
They were released in August 2016 to join the peace negotiations in Norway as consultants of the NDF.
A non-government organization, Kapayapaan Now, called for the resumption of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDF.
“We pin our hopes on President Duterte’s recent statement that he is open to a one-on-one conversation with Jose Maria Sison, which the latter reciprocated with a welcoming statement,” said the group.
The group said there is no justification whatsoever for cancelling the peace negotiations.