A report by the Communist Party of the Philippines’s Political Bureau one year ago today revealed that their highest ranking members, Wilma and Benito Tiamzon, along with eight of their comrades, were massacred by the Philippines’ military (AFP) with the support of US military advisors.
The report says the AFP’s claim that the victims, dubbed the “Catbalogan 10,” were killed in August last year when their boat “suddenly exploded” during a firefight with a US-trained and commanded unit of the AFP, was designed to conceal their capture, torture, and massacre of the group.
Witnesses reported to the CPP’s investigation how the Tiamzons’ captors subjected them to extreme torture and “smashed” their faces and hands with hard objects.
The AFP’s 8th infantry division, Joint Task Force Storm, and the Joint Operations Task Force Trident conducted the operation. Trident counts US advisers in its ranks and joined the AFP’s 2017 war on alleged ISIS militants that devastated the city of Marawi.