Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday urged the Tiamzon couple to surrender following the decision of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court convicting them for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

Año said he instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest Benito and Wilma Tiamzon so they can serve their sentence.

“This is a stern warning to the fugitives of the law to surrender because it might help them and if they will not surrender we will look for them using all our resources,” the secretary said.

Año said the Tiamzons are still in the country.

Once arrested, he said they will be detained at Camp Crame.

As the former chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the couple was arrested in 2014, Año said he is delighted over the court’s decision.

“I spent half of my career looking for this couple… I personally led the arrest… I was there when they were arrested in Cebu City… It’s a good victory, this couple has so much blood to the Filipino people. They killed many people, kidnapped, burned equipment,” he said.

“This will serve as lesson… (It) is not worthy to fight the government using rebellion… Armed revolution, there is always a way of instituting reforms and changes but not the use of arms,” he said.

Año appealed to other rebels to go down the mountains and change their life.

For his part, Brig. Gen Ildebrandi Usana, PNP spokesperson, said the decision is a “triumph of justice”.

“It is also another success story on the efficiency of our prosecutors and investigators who secured the validity of evidence presented during the trial,” Usana said.

“The court also helped make the justice system work with its verdict. Of course, it is also a manifestation of the sins committed by communist terrorists against our people,” he added. Ella Dionisio/DMS