Militant bloc wants House probe on death of communist leaders

From Malaya Business Insight (May 9, 2023): Militant bloc wants House probe on death of communist leaders (By Wendell Vigilia)

THE militant Makabayan bloc yesterday filed a resolution urging the House committee on human rights to investigate what it called “grave violations of International Humanitarian Law” allegedly committed by the Armed Forces against Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife, CPP secretary general Wilma Austria Tiamzon, and their eight companions who died last year.

Party-list Reps. France Castro (ACT), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan) filed House Resolution No. 939 following the communist group’s claim that its two leaders were captured, tortured, and killed by soldiers before their bodies were loaded into a boat that the military blew up off Catbalogan City in Samar in August last year.

“We hope that the House leadership would let the committee on human rights hear this resolution so that such incidents would not happen again,” Castro said in a statement.

In the resolution, the Makabayan bloc said “the government’s resort to brutality to suppress revolutionaries like the Tiamzons is not a solution to the underlying issues that give rise to armed conflict.”

“These issues include poverty, injustice, lack of sovereignty and independence, and a lack of genuine democracy. Resorting to terrorist tagging, fascistic acts, and military means will not resolve these socio-economic and political causes, which can only be addressed through genuine agrarian reform, national industrialization, securing true independence, and the existence of real democracy,” it said.

The left-leaning lawmakers said the state’s “reliance on force cannot secure a lasting peace,” stressing that “alternative avenues must be pursued, such as the resumption of the peace process.”

The resolution said the Tiamzon couple and their companions were protected persons under international humanitarian law, which Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity defines “as prisoners of war or persons deprived of liberty for reasons related to an armed conflict, or civilians or hors de combat or persons not taking a direct part or no longer taking part in the hostilities in the power of the adverse party — all of whom must never be made objects of whatever military action, including military attacks, torture, and intentional killing.”

“The alleged brutal treatment they suffered at the hands of their captors and the massacre of their group, which was comprised of unarmed persons, are clear violations of the Geneva Conventions and the domestic laws on IHL,” the Makabayan bloc said.

According to reports, the Tiamzons travelled to Catbalogan City unarmed with their companions Ka Divino, Ka Yen, Ka Jaja, Ka Matt, Ka Ash, Ka Delfin, Ka Lupe, and Ka Butig when the state forces in Samar province captured them on Aug. 21, 2022. They reportedly suffered severe beating and torture.

Then 8th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon said they believed the 10 died after their boat exploded during a firefight off Catbalogan City on the early morning of August 22.

Special Forces soldiers equipped with night vision goggles, aboard boats, located the rebels off Catbalogan City, De Leon said, adding the soldiers asked the occupants to stop but they allegedly did not heed the call and instead opened fire.

De Leon said soldiers retaliated and, during the exchange of fire, the boat which was loaded with explosives exploded.

[Retired Analyst Note: The resolution was authored by known Communist Party of the Philippines party-list political parties who are all members of the so-call MAKABAYAN Bloc. Party-list Reps. France Castro (ACT), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan) are all long-time communist cadre active in various CPP front organizations. The political parties were formed as off-shoots of several CPP-linked sectoral fronts. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action (GABRIELA) and the Ang Nagkakaisang Kabataan Para sa Sambayanan (ANAK ng BAYAN or  'The United Youth for the People') later renamed Kabataan (Youth) were the sectoral fronts that formed basis for the founding of the party-list political parties bearing the same names/acronyms. The overriding mission of these front organizations is to discredit and undermine the Philippine government and military. For example, in this instance, these groups are seeking to discredit an apparently successful military operation that resulted in the deaths of key CPP leaders by falsely claiming that they were captured and executed and not killed during a legitimate encounter with Philippine security forces.]

https://malaya.com.ph/news_news/militant-bloc-wants-house-probe-on-death-of-communist-leaders/