The 8th Infantry Division (8ID) of the Philippine Army (PA) said that it was confirming reports that alleged communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon were among those killed during an explosion of a motorbanca carrying armed individuals in Catbalogan City, Samar early Monday, August 22.
Maj. Gen. Edgardo De Leon, commander of 8ID, said the incident occurred around 4:20 a.m. in the vicinity of Catbalogan City and Buri Island when elements of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Storm received an information from a tipster that around 10 armed individuals boarded a motorbanca loaded with boxes which were suspected to be explosives from the shoreline north of Calbayog to escape the military’s operations.
De Leon said tactical offensives against communist groups in Northern Samar to the tri-boundary of Western Samar and Eastern Samar have been relentless since February of this year, forcing the enemies to break their group into smaller units and relocate in other provinces.
“Kaninang madaling-araw, naalert ‘yung aming scout boats ng Special Forces kasi mayroong report na apparent movement of a group of NPA na papalabas sa dagat (Early morning a while ago, the scout boats of our Special Forces were alerted because there was a report of an apparent movement of a group of NPA exiting through the waters),” De Leon said.
The troops then deployed a team of Special Forces equipped with night vision goggles to accost the suspicious individuals.
When the two groups met, a soldier allegedly warned the suspicious individuals through a megaphone to have themselves subjected to an inspection but instead of responding, the enemies fired shots towards the troops, forcing the latter to retaliate.
At the height of the exchange of fire, a powerful explosion suddenly occurred, blowing the motorbanca into bits.
“Hindi namin maano kung deliberately done o tinamaan ng rifle grenade ng tropa. Puro debris na (We cannot determine if it was deliberately done or it was hit by a rifle grenade thrown by the troops. The boat was reduced to debris),” De Leon said.
De Leon said he could not confirm the identities of the slain suspects as of press time, including whether or not among them were the Tiamzon couple.
However, he added that “there are indicators” the high-profile couple were indeed in Samar.
He said that sometime in March, the military arrested two alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA Central Committee identified as Esteban Manuel and Leonardo Bernardo.
“Those are the incidents na nagbibigay ng indicators na baka nasa Samar ang national leadership so kasama sila sa pinagsususpetsahan na nandito sa Samar (Those are the incidents that give indicators that the national leadership may have been in Samar including them ),” De Leon said.
Benito is a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and believed to be the chairman of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. Meanwhile, Wilma is believed to be the Secretary General of the CPP-NPA.