Wilma Tiamzon


Wilma Tiamzon is a Filipino political organizer and until her arrest in March 2014 by Philippine security forces, believed to be the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army.

Early education

Tiamzon was a student in the University of the Philippines Diliman during the late 1960s. She was a writer for the Philippine Collegian, the university's student publication.

Career in the Left

Tiamzon had previously served as the finance officer and secretary of the CPP's National Peasant Commission and was secretary of the CPP's National Education Department. She had also been a member of the Regional Trade Union Bureau and a member of CPP-NPA central executive committee.
She was arrested in July 1973 during the years following Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines. She was released in 1974. She was again arrested in October 1989 for murder charges but escaped from the detention center in Camp Crame two months later. The Philippine military stated that the CPP-NPA spent ₱2.5 million for her escape.
Tiamzon along with her husband, a fellow senior member of the CPP leadership, and five other persons were arrested by Philippine security forces in Cebu in 2014 during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III; they had been exposed by surveillance since relief operations began in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan the year before. Recovered in their possession were firearms, grenades and ammunition. The Tiamzons were wanted on murder charges as a consequence for their alleged involvement in the deaths of fifteen civilians whose remains were discovered in a mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte in 2006. They were released from detention in August 2016 upon the order of President Rodrigo Duterte as they were designated representatives of the National Democratic Front to the peace talks with the Government of the Philippines to be held in Oslo, Norway. Duterte announced that peace negotiations would no longer be undertaken in February 2017 and that he expected the NDF representatives, including the Tiamzons to "on their own… return and go back to prison."

Personal life

Wilma is married to Benito Tiamzon, the Chairman of the CPP-NPA. They have been married since 1973 and have two children, Liza and Alex, and six grandchildren.