Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. “Joma” Canlas Sison died Friday night, Dec. 16 (Philippine time). He was 83.
Sison, who had been in self-exile in The Netherlands, perished around 8:40 p.m. after a two-week confinement in an undisclosed hospital, the CPP announced. The cause of his death is yet to be confirmed.
“The Filipino proletariat and toiling people grieve the death of their teacher and guiding light. The entire Communist Party of the Philippines gives the highest possible tribute to its founding chairman, great Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thinker, patriot, internationalist, and revolutionary leader,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement posted on the Philippine Revolutionary Web Central (PRWC), the official website of the CPP, on Saturday morning, Dec. 17.
“Even as we mourn, we vow continue to give all our strength and determination to carry the revolution forward guided by the memory and teachings of the people’s beloved Ka Joma. Let the immortal revolutionary spirit of Ka Joma live on,” Valbuena added.
Last Feb 7, a day before his 83rd birthday, rumors floated on social media that the communist leader had already died. He released a statement on his Facebook page denying such claims although he admitted that he was suffering from an inflammation on his legs due to rheumatoid arthritis.
Sison founded the CPP on Dec. 26, 1968 to initiate a social revolution in the Philippines using the philosophies of Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism.
Together with its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), and political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the 53-year-old CPP is leading the communist rebellion in the country, which is reportedly the longest-running insurgency in the entire Asia, to overthrow the government in favor of a new administration led by the working class.
But since the collapse of the peace talks between the Philippine government and the CPP-NPA-NDFP in 1987, Sison went into self-exile in The Netherlands and was recognized as a political refugee.
Previous administrations since the 1987 collapse of the peace talks had attempted to revive the peace talks but to no avail.
In 2019, former President Rodrigo Duterte announced the “permanent” termination of the dialogues with the communist groups. Duterte also created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which now serves as the primary anti-commu⁹nist task force in the country and is tasked to end the country’s more than five-decade-old insurgency problem.
In 2018, the national government filed a proscription to formally outlaw and tag as “terrorist” organizations the CPP-NPA-NDFP under the Human Security Act, which was superseded by the Anti-Terror Act of 2020. However, a Manila court dismissed the petition in 2021.
As for Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the then-presidential aspirant said back in January that the kind of revolution that the CPP has been waving “is not really to the benefit of the people.”
“There was maybe a time in our history that was the best answer to do things. I do not agree with their method,” Marcos had said.
AFP, DND react
For the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Sison's death ends the disagreement between him and the military.
"Our disagreement with Prof. Jose Maria Sison ends with his death," said Col. Medel Aguilar, acting AFP spokesperson.
The AFP vowed to further intensify its anti-insurgency campaign even with the demise of the CPP's founder. According to military records, there are only 24 remaining active communist guerilla fronts in the country: 19 of them were already "weakened" due to the neutralization of their commanders while five others – four are located in Visayas and one in Sultan Kudarat – are now the subject of security operations.
In total, there remains 2,112 communist rebels nationwide based on the latest validation of the military. The group's strength peaked to around 25,000 in 1987, according to military estimates.
"We may have opposing stance on the methodology he adopted to effect societal reforms but still we pay our respect to the dead and extend our sincere condolences to his bereaved family. Let us now all pray for peace to reign in our country," Aguilar said.
Meanwhile, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong believes that Sison's death symbolizes the "crumbling hierarchy" of the CPP-NPA-NDF, "which he founded to violently put himself in power."
"His death deprived the Filipino people of the opportunity to bring this fugitive to justice under our country's laws. Sison was responsible for the deaths of thousands of our countrymen. Innocent civilians, soldiers, police, child and youth combatants died because of his bidding," Andolong said in a rather strongly-worded statement.
He then called on the remaining members of the CPP-NPA-NDF to "turn their backs on the violent and false ideology" of their group that has since killed many Filipinos and stunted growth in the countryside.
"Five decades of brutal and bloody aggression against the state and the Filipino people have led to nothing but destruction and strife for thousands of Filipinos," Andolong stressed.
"A new era without Jose Maria Sison dawns for the Philippines, and we will all be the better for it. The greatest stumbling block of peace for the Philippines is gone; let us now give peace a chance," he concluded.
(Updated story)