‘Rebel couple got no P1.5M’

CEBU, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines- Central Command yesterday denied the allegation that its men allegedly kept P1.5 million recovered from Benito Tiamzona and his wife Wilma during their arrest in San Fernando, Cebu last month.

Major Gen. John Bonafos, Centcom commander, said they recovered only P23,545.35, with P13,130.05 found in the Toyota Innova and P10,415.30 in the Hyndai Starex that the Tiamzon couple and their companions rode.

The money, Bonafos said, were then turned over to Nona Castillo and Rex Villaflor, respectively.

Castillo and Villaflor were among the five persons arrested along with Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma last March 22.

Benito is said to be the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, while Wilma is referred to as the secretary-general and former finance committee head.

Aside from the cash, personal belongings like laptops, among others, were also issued inventory receipts signed by Villaflor and Castillo.

Bonafos said that while the Tiamzons were living in ease, sleeping in air-conditioned rooms and living in a mansion with a flat screen television, their comrades barely have anything in the mountains.

He also said the Tiamzons even have high-end gadgets like Lenovo and Mac Air laptops, computer tablets, and various cellular phones, which brings question where they get the money they spent on all those items.

The Tiamzons were arrested by a joint force of Criminal Investigation and Detective Group-7, police, and AFP personnel in a checkpoint in Aloguinsan town after they left their safe house in Barangay Sangat, San Fernando by virtue of an arrest warrant for murder and homicide.

CIDG-7 Chief Ritchie Posadas, on the other hand, called the allegation a “blatant lie,” reiterating that what was recovered was only P23 545.35.

Posadas said that the money, along with personal belongings like clothing, two laptops, flash drives, cellphones, memory cards were accounted properly, with Castillo and Villaflor serving as witnesses.

“In fact, Villaflor was very meticulous when we were conducting the inventory,” Posadas said.

He said they would welcome any one from the side of the Tiamzons who would retrieve their personal belongings, as long as they could present proper identification and proof of ownership to CIDG-7.  (FREEMAN)