Arraignment of murder case vs. Tiamzon couple postponed

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 27): Arraignment of murder case vs. Tiamzon couple postponed

The arraignment before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the case of murder against the couple Benito and Wilma Tiamzon did not push through on Friday.

The Tiamzon couple are suspected to be leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The arraignment for murder case against the Tiamzon couple is in connection with the discovery of an alleged ”mass grave” in Hilongos, Leyte, in 1984.

The co-accused in the case are former Rep. Satur Ocampo and peace consultants Vicente Ladlad, Randall Echanis and Rafael Baylosis who were earlier released on “conditional bail.”

The Tiamzon couple were brought before the Manila RTC on Friday, however, according to Christina Palabay of the group Karapatan, Manila RTC Branch 32 Judge Thelma Medina decided to postpone the arraignment to a later date.

The postponement was made while the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) is still being awaited on the petition filed by the Tiamzon couple questioning the result of the preliminary investigation on their case because they were allegedly deprived of their “right to due process.”

The Karapatan is one of the groups which is closely monitoring the case of the Tiamzon couple, who are both currently incarcerated at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=739682