Tiamzon couple sentenced to 40 years in jail
COUPLE Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria, high-ranking officials of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New People’s Army, were convicted Friday, November 27, 2020, for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Both were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or imprisonment of 20 years and one day to 40 years, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP) spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo.
In a Twitter post, Arevalo said the case stemmed from the abduction of Army First Lieutenant Abraham Casis in 1988.
The sentence was handed down by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 21.
Tiamzon and Austria were arrested in March 2014 in Aloguinsan town in Cebu, but were released on P100,000 bail each in August 2016 to allow them to attend the peace negotiations with the govern
ment in Oslo, Norway.
Tiamzon, chairman of the CPP, was a consultant to the NDFP panel.
Austria was a member of the ( National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Reciprocal Working Group, which was in talks with the government on ending hostilities and disposition of forces.
The peace negotiations with the communists have been scrapped by President Rodrigo Duterte. SunStar Philippines