[1] 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.

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.

[3] 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.

[5] 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.

The previously reported mid-sea firefight and explosion, which were believed to have caused their deaths, were, according to the CPP, a cover-up by the AFP and its US military advisers for their "fascist crime".