Communist Party of the Philippines and New People鈥檚 Army chief Benito Tiamzon (left) and his wife, Wilma (right). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines鈥擜 government prosecutor involved in the multiple murder case against Benito and Wilma Tiamzon said they should be detained in the Manila City Jail and it was 鈥渦tter disrespect鈥� on the part of the Philippine National Police to ask the Manila Regional Trial Court for continued custody of the couple without consulting the prosecution.
鈥�(The arresting officers) should have sought conformity, which they never did. We鈥檙e on the same side. (The Tiamzons) should be committed to the Manila City Jail, the nearest jail to the court,鈥� said Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong during a clarificatory court hearing on Tuesday.
Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, chair and chief finance officer, respectively, of the Communist Party of the Philippines, are currently detained in Camp Crame in Quezon City, the national police headquarters. They are coaccused in a multiple murder case in connection with a mass grave discovered by the military in Inopacan, Leyte, in 2006.
The skeletal remains that were found were believed to be those of victims of 鈥淥peration Venereal Disease鈥� launched by the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People鈥檚 Army and National Democratic Front to purge their ranks of suspected military informers.