Jose Maria Sison

José María Canlás Sison (born February 8,

1939) is a Filipino writer and activist who
founded the Communist Party of the
Philippines and added elements of
Maoism to its philosophy. He applied the
theory of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism on
Philippine history and current
circumstances.
 Jose Maria Sison
Chairman and founder of the Communist Party of
the Philippines
Incumbent

Assumed office
December 26, 1968

Personal details

Born February 8, 1939

Cabugao,
Commonwealth of the
Philippines

Political party Communist Party of the

Philippines

Other political National Democratic

affiliations Front
Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan
 Makabayang
Kowalisyon ng
Mamamayan
Lapiang Manggagawa
PKP-1930

Residence Utrecht, Netherlands

Alma mater University of the

Philippines Colegio de
San Juan de Letran
Ateneo de Manila
University

Website www.josemariasison.org

Military service

Allegiance New People's Army

Since August 2002, he has been classified
as a "person supporting terrorism" by the
United States. The European Union's
second highest court ruled in September
2009 to delist him as a "person supporting
terrorism" and reversed a decision by
member governments to freeze
assets.[1][2] He is a recognized political
refugee in The Netherlands and enjoys the
protection of the Refugee Convention and
Article 3 of the European Convention on
Human Rights.

Early years
 This section of a biography of a living person
needs additional citations for verification.
Learn more

Sison was born on February 8, 1939 in

Cabugao to a prominent landowning
family with ancestry from Spanish-
Mexican-Malay mestizos and from Fujian,
China and with connections to other
prominent clans such as the Crisólogos,
Geraldinos, Vergaras, Azcuetas, Sollers,
Serranos and Singsons. His great
grandfather Don Leandro Serrano was the
biggest landlord of Northern Luzon at the
end of the 19th century. His grandfather
Don Gorgonio Soller Sison was the last
gobernadorcillo of Cabugao under Spanish
colonial rule, the municipal president
under the Philipine revolutionary
government and first mayor under the US
colonial rule. His grand uncle Don
Marcelino Crisólogo was the first governor
of his Ilocos Sur. His uncle Teófilo Sison
was a governor of Pangasinan and the first
defense secretary in the Commonwealth
government. He was convicted in 1946 of
having collaborated with the Japanese
occupation forces but was covered by
amnesty in 1947.[3] During his childhood in
Ilocos, he learned about the Huk rebellion
in Central Luzon from Ilocano farm
workers and from his mother who
belonged to a landlord family in México,
Pampanga. In his early high school years
in Manila, he talked to his barber about the
Hukbalahap activity. Unlike his elder
siblings, he attended a public school
before entering Ateneo de Manila
University and later studying at Colegio de
San Juan de Letrán.

Sison graduated from the University of the

Philippines in 1959 with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in English literature with
honors and then studied Indonesian in
Indonesia before returning to the
Philippines and becoming a university
professor of literature and eventually Rizal
Studies and Political Science. He joined
the Lavaite Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas
in December 1962 and became a member
of its Executive Committee in early 1963.
He was the Vice Chairman of the Lapiang
Manggagawa (which eventually became
the Socialist Party) and the general
secretary of the Movement for the
Advancement of Nationalism. In 1964, he
co-founded the Kabataang Makabayan, or
Patriotic Youth, with Nilo S. Tayag. This
organization organized youth against the
Vietnam War, Ferdinand Marcos,
imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism and
feudalism. The organization also
spearheaded the study of Maoism as part
of 'the struggle'.
On December 26, 1968, he formed and led
the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP), an
organization founded on Marxism–
Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, stemming
from his experience as a youth leader and
labor and land reform activist. This is
known as the First Great Rectification
Movement where Sison and other radical
youth criticized the existing Party
leadership for its errors and failures since
1942. The old communist party had been
run under a series of Moscow leaning
general secretaries from the Lava family.
The reestablished CPP set its general
political line as two-stage revolution
comprising national-democratic as the
first stage then proceeding to the socialist
revolution. During this period, Sison went
by the nom de guerre of Amado Guerrero,
meaning "beloved warrior", under which he
published the book manifesto Philippine
Society and Revolution.[4][5]

After this, the old Communist Party sought

to eliminate and marginalize Sison.
However, the reorganized CPP had a larger
base and renewed political line that
attracted thousands to join its ranks. On
March 29, 1969, the CPP, along with an
HMB (Huk) faction led by Bernabe
Buscayno, organized the New People's
Army (NPA), the guerrilla-military wing of
the Party, whose guerrilla fronts,
numbering more than 110, are nationwide
and cover substantial portions of 75 of the
81 Philippine provinces. The NPA seeks to
wage a peasant-worker revolutionary war
in the countryside against landlords and
foreign companies by operating in rural
communities and mountains as strategy
for protection.

Sison was arrested in November 1977

during the Marcos presidency and was
imprisoned for almost 9 years. He was
released from military detention on March
5, 1986 soon after the overthrow of
Marcos. His experience is described in
Prison & Beyond, a book of poetry released
in 1986, which won the Southeast Asia
WRITE award for the Philippines. Two
biographies have been written about him
by the German writer Dr. Rainer Werning,
The Philippine Revolution: From the
Leader's View Point (1989) and by the
Filipina novelist Ninotchka Rosca, At
Home in the World (2004). Two major
biopics of Sison as founder of Kabataang
Makabayan (titled Tibak) and the
Communist Party of the Philippines (titled
The Guerrilla Is a Poet) have been
produced by major film makers in the
Philippines.
The CPP has stated for 20 years that Sison
is no longer involved in operational
decisions and serves from Europe in an
advisory role, as chief political consultant
of the National Democratic Front in peace
negotiations with the Manila government.
In 1986, after he was freed from prison,
Sison embarked on a world tour. In
October he accepted the Southeast Asia
WRITE award for a book of his poems
from the Crown Prince of Thailand in
October 1986 in Bangkok. While visiting
the Netherlands in September 1988, he
was informed that his passport had been
revoked and that charges had been filed
against him under the Anti-Subversion Law
of the Philippines. Those charges were
later dropped, as have subsequent
charges filed by authorities in the
Philippines.

Personal life
Sison met his wife, Julie de Lima, when
both studied at UP Diliman. Attending the
same study groups, they grew closer and
married first in a civil wedding in
September 1959 and the in a Catholic
church wedding in January 1960. The
couple have four children. Their youngest
son warison.[6]
His wife Julie de Lima belongs to the
prominent De Lima family of Iriga City,
Camarines Sur and is the aunt of Leila de
Lima now a Senator, and the former
secretary of Philippine Department of
Justice under the Administration of
President Benigno S. Aquino III, previously
detained by President Rodrigo Duterte.[7]

Contrary to the unsubstantiated claims of

President Duterte, Sison has no colon
cancer.[8] He has been cleared of any
serious ailment like cancer, cardiac
problem or blood disorder by the Utrecht
University Medical Center. Thus, he has
challenged President Duterte to present to
the public their respective medical
certificates.

Sison returned to teach at the University of

the Philippines soon after his release from
prison in 1986. Then he went on a global
lecture tour, starting in September 1986.
He applied for political asylum in the
Netherlands in 1988 after his Philippine
passport was cancelled by the Philippine
government. He had been earlier released
from prison by the government of Corazón
Aquino for the sake of "national
reconciliation" and for his role in opposing
Marcos. The release of Sison was
vehemently protested by the military. It is
reported that upon his release, Sison and
his followers actively sought to discredit
the Aquino government in the European
media by speaking out on Aquino's human
rights violations including the Mendiola
Massacre, in which members of the
military were accused of firing on unarmed
peasants in Manila, killing 17 people.

He is the chairperson of the International

League of Peoples' Struggle,[9] and the
current Chief Political Consultant of the
National Democratic Front of the
Philippines. Since 1987, Sison had based
himself in the Netherlands for his
European lecture tour. Since 1992 he has
stayed in The Netherlands as a recognized
political refugee. He enjoys the protection
of the Geneva Refugee Convention and
Article 3 of the European Convention on
Human Rights. This legal protection has
been further strengthened by the decision
of the European Court of Justice in 2009
to remove his name from the EU terrorist
list and by the decision of the Dutch
National Prosecution Service in early 2010
to drop the false murder charges against
him.

Arrest
The International Crime Investigation
Team of the Dutch National Criminal
Investigation Department arrested Jose
Maria Sison in Utrecht on August 28, 2007.
Sison was arrested for his alleged
involvement from the Netherlands in three
assassinations that took place in the
Philippines: the murder of Romulo
Kintanar in 2003, and the murders of
Arturo Tabara and Stephen Ong in 2006.
On the day of his arrest, Sison's apartment
and eight apartments of his co-workers
were searched by the Dutch National
Criminal Investigation Department.[10]
Some 100 left-wing activists held a
demonstration for the release of Sison,
marching towards the Dutch embassy in
Manila on August 30, 2007. The
demonstration was ended by the
police.[11][12]

There were no plans to hold the trial in the

Philippines since there was no extradition
request and the crimes Jose Maria Sison
is accused of were committed in the
Netherlands. Dutch lawyer, Victor Koppe
said that Sison would enter a plea of not
guilty during his indictment. He could have
faced the maximum penalty of life
imprisonment.
On September 1, 2007, National
Democratic Front peace panel chair Luis
Jalandoni confirmed that the Dutch
government was "maltreating" Sison
because the Court detained him in solitary
confinement for several weeks without
access to media, newspapers, television,
radio or visitors; it also denied him the
right to bring prescription medicines to his
cell. The place where Sison was held was
the same one used by the late former
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic
who was held for war crimes and
corruption. Meanwhile, protests were held
in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia, the
United States and Canada. The
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)
feared Sison may be "extra-judicially"
transferred to the United States. CPP
spokesman Gregorio Rosal said that the
U.S. may detain and subject Sison to
extraordinary rendition in Guantanamo Bay
or some secret facility. U.S. ambassador
Kristie Ann Kenney formally announced
that the U.S. will extend support to the
Dutch government to prosecute Sison.[13]

In New York City, former United States

Attorney General and left-wing human
rights lawyer Ramsey Clark called for
Sison's release and pledged assistance by
joining the latter's legal defense team
headed by Jan Fermon. Clark doubted
Dutch authorities' validity and competency,
since the murder charges originated in the
Philippines and had already been
dismissed by the country's Supreme
Court.[14]

Committee DEFEND, an International

group stated that the Dutch government
tortured Sison at the National Penitentiary
in Scheveningen (used by the Nazis in
World War II to torture Dutch resistance
fighters). His wife, Julie De Lima failed to
see him to give medicines and warm
clothes on August 30, 2007. [15]
Meanwhile, counsel of Sison Romeo
Capulong will question the Dutch
government's jurisdiction over the issue
and person alleging that the Supreme
Court of the Philippines already dismissed
the subject cases on July 2.[16]

On September 7, 2007, the Dutch court

heard defense arguments for Sison, and
stated that it would issue the resolution
next week on whether to extend the
detention. Supporters outside the Hague
District Court chanted slogans while the
wife, Julie De Lima stated that they
complained to the International
Committee of the Red Cross. Luis
Jalandoni, chairman of the National
Democratic Front accused the government
of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of
being "a workhorse" for Philippines
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and for
the U.S. government.[17]

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a

progressive bar association in New York
headed by Marjorie Cohnhas, denounced
the arrest Sison: "it exposes the hand of
the Arroyo administration in yet another
assault on the rights of the people to
dissent and organize."[18] Sison will remain
in jail until Thursday, but was provided TV,
radio and medication.[19]
On September 12, 2007, lawyers Edre
Olalia and Rachel Pastores stated that
Sison's lawyers will appeal the reported
Dutch court's newly promulgated ruling
extending Sison's detention for 90 days.[20]
The Dutch court did not extend the
detention for 90 days but released him on
September 13, 2007, after being in solitary
confinement for 17 days.

Release from detention

Dutch public prosecutor's office's Wim de

Bruin stated that Sison was released from
jail at 10:45 a.m. on September 13, 2007.
The court ruled that there was insufficient
evidence to detain him on murder charges,
specifically, if Sison "had a conscious and
close cooperation with those in the
Philippines who carried out the deed."[21][22]

On September 27, 2007, Sison appeared

before the Hague Court of Appeal panel of
3 judges on the public prosecutor's appeal
against the district court's September 13
judgment of release.

On September 28, 2007, the Dutch

Ambassador to the Philippines, Robert
Brinks, announced that 3 Dutch judicial
officials and Dutch prosecution lawyer
Wim De Bruin will visit the Philippines
"later this year" to review the evidence
against Jose Maria Sison.[23] The next day
Leung Kwok Hung, a Hong Kong politician
and member of the April Fifth Action
vowed to support Sison. Leung was in
Europe at the Inter-Parliamentary Union
assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. He sits
in the Hong Kong legislature as a member
of the Finance and House Committees,
and of the Legislative Panels on
Constitutional Affairs, Housing, Manpower,
Transport, and on Welfare Services.[24]

On October 3, 2007, the Dutch court

dismissed the prosecution's appeal
against the release Sison, confirming his
freedom while the Dutch police continue to
investigate: "the prosecution file lacks
enough concrete clues that Sison can be
directly linked to the assassinations which
is needed to prosecute him as a
perpetrator". However, the decision does
not bar prosecution for murder.[25] But the
Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office (per
spokesman Wim de Bruin) stated that it
did not drop the charges against Sison yet,
who remains a suspect. De Bruin said: "No,
you have to separate the criminal
investigation by the police from the
investigation by the examining judge in
The Hague. So the judge decided to finish
the investigation but the police
investigation will be continued and that
means that Mr. Sison is still a suspect".[26]

The Dutch court on May 20, 2008, heard

Sison's appeal against the Dutch Public
Prosecutors Office's request to extend its
investigation until December, since the
investigators arrived in the Philippines in
February and interviewed witnesses. At
the trial, however, the new evidence
showed that there were indeed attempts
to kill him, in 1999 and 2000, while
Kintanar's wife, Joy, directly accused
Edwin Garcia in the murder of her
husband.[27] The Dutch court scheduled
the promulgation on the verdict on June
10, 2008.[28]

The Dutch District Court of The Hague on

June 5, 2008 decided in camera "that the
Public Prosecution Service may continue
the prosecution of Jose Maria Sison for
involvement in, among other matters, a
number of murders committed in the
Philippines in 2003 and 2004; that while
the prosecution's case file still held
insufficient evidence, the investigation was
ongoing and should be given time to
unfold."[29] In February 2010, the Dutch
Public Prosecution Service finally
terminated its investigation of Sison and
dropped the criminal charges against him.

Controversies
Former Senator Jovito Salonga accused
Sison of orchestrating the 1971 Plaza
Miranda bombing during the Liberal Party
Convention to force Marcos to suspend
the writ of habeas corpus and sign
Proclamation Number 1081 initiating the
advent of Martial Law in the Philippines.
This accusation comes from former CPP
members such as Victor Corpuz and
others. The Philippine National Police
(PNP) filed a criminal case against Sison
for the Plaza Miranda bombing, but the
charges were dismissed for lack of
evidence, with the dismissal order citing
the complainant's filing criminal charges
based on speculation.

On July 4, 2008, Manila's RTC Executive

Judge Reynaldo Ros assumed jurisdiction
over the 1,551 pages records/cases of
multiple murder lawsuit against Sison,
Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo
and National Democratic Front member
Luis Jalandoni after the Supreme Court's
Third Division ordered a change of venue
from the Hilongos, Leyte RTC Branch 18,
for safety reasons. The accused were
charged of executing 30 farmers in 1985,
in purging military assets within the New
People's Army in Southern Leyte. 15
corpses were found in a mass grave in
Inopacan, Leyte, in 2006.[30][31] During the
time when these alleged killings
supposedly took place, Sison and Ocampo
had long been under maximum detention
of the Marcos regime. Sison, Ocampo, and
other political detainees were only freed in
1986 after the first EDSA uprising of the
same year.

The European Union's second highest

court ruled to delist Sison and the
Stichting Al-Aqsa group from the EU terror
list since the 27-nation bloc failed to
respect their right when blacklisted. The
Luxembourg-based Court of Justice
further reversed a decision by member
governments to freeze the assets of Sison
and the Netherlands-based Al-Aqsa
Foundation, since the EU governments
failed to inform them why the assets were
frozen. Dekker said that EU lawyers in
Brussels can lodge any appeal.[1][2] EU was
also ordered to shoulder all the litigation
expenses during the five-year appeal of
Sison against the Dutch government and
the EU.[32] The final judgment of the
European Court of Justice to remove Sison
from the EU terrorist blacklist on
September 30, 2009 became final and
binding on December 10, 2009 inasmuch
as the EU did not make appeal. The court
decisions and other documents pertaining
to cases involving Sison in the Philippines
are compiled under the section of Legal
Cases in www.josemariasison.org and can
be further verified in the archives of the
pertinent courts.

Works
Selected writings 1968–1991

2013. 1968-1972 Foundation for

Resuming the Philippine Revolution.
International Network for Philippine
Studies and Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.
2013. 1969-1974 Defeating Revisionism,
Reformism & Opportunism. International
Network for Philippine Studies and Aklat
ng Bayan, Inc.
2013. 1972-1977 Building Strength
through Struggle. International Network
for Philippine Studies and Aklat ng
Bayan, Inc.
2013. 1977-1986 Detention and Defiance
against Dictatorship. International
Network for Philippine Studies and Aklat
ng Bayan, Inc.
 2015. 1986-1991 Continuing the
Struggle for National & Social Liberation.
International Network for Philippine
Studies and Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.

Selected writings 1991–2009

2009. 1991-1994 For Justice, Socialism

and Peace. Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.
2009. 1995-2001 For Democracy and
Socialism Against Imperialist
Globalization. Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.
2009. 2001-2006 Crisis of Imperialism
and People's Resistance. Aklat ng
Bayan, Inc.
 2009. 2006-2009 People's Struggle
Against Imperialist Plunder and Terror.
Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.

Peoples' struggles against

oppression and exploitation:
selected writings 2009–2015

2015. 2009-2010 Crisis Generates

Resistance. International Network for
Philippine Studies
2016. 2010-2011 Building People's
Power. International Network for
Philippine Studies
2017. 2012 Combat Neoliberal
Globalization. International Network for
Philippine Studies[33]
Other works

2017. Specific Characteristics of our

People's War. Reprint. Utrecht, published
by Christophe Kistler.[34]
2003. US Terrorism and War in the
Philippines. Netherlands, Papieren Tijger
1998. Philippine Economy and Politics.
Co-authored by Julieta de Lima.
Philippines, Aklat ng Bayan, Inc.
1989. The Philippine Revolution : The
Leader's View. With Rainer Werning. New
York : Crane Russak.
1984. Prison and Beyond: Selected
Poems, 1958–1983. Quezon City: Free
Jose Maria Sison Committee.
 1971. Philippine Society and Revolution.
As Amado Guerrero. Manila: Pulang
Tala.
1967. Struggle for National Democracy.
Quezon City, Progressive Publications

Ancestry
 Ancestors of Jose Maria Sison

16. Atanacio S
8. Julián Sison
17. Petrona Es
orgonio Sison
18. Braulio S
9. Bonifacio Soller
19. Germana S

20. Modesto S
10. Leandro Serrano
21. Dominga S
rtiniana Serrano
22. Patricio Az
11. Úrsula Azcueta
23. Valentina G

24. Agapito C
12. Hilario Canlas
 25. Francisca Lac
ervacio Canlas
26. Guillermo M
13. Alejandra Muñoz
27. Engracia A

14. ? López
usebia López
15. ? García

References
1. IHT, EU court overturns decision to
freeze assets of exiled Philippine rebel,
Palestinian group , nytimes.com.
2. JAVNO, EU Court Overturns Two EU
Terrorist Listings Archived
 September 28, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine, dalje.com.
3. "Kinship and encounters with FVR" .
Jose Maria Sison. Retrieved May 1,
2016.
4. Guidote, Caridad. The Intellectuals and
the Problems of Development in the
Philippines. 1973.
5. Amado Guerrero (1970). Philippine
Society and Revolution . Revolutionary
School of Mao Tsetung Thought.
6. "Jose Maria Sison in the dead end" .
Retrieved May 1, 2016.
7. ABS-CBN News. "De Lima: So what if
I'm Joma's kin?" . Retrieved May 1,
 2016.
8. GMA News. "Joma Sison has colon
cancer" . Retrieved July 24, 2017.
9. "Office of the Chairperson" . ILPS.
Archived from the original on March
22, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
10. "Philippine Communist Leader
Apprehended to Face a Murder
Charge" (Press release). Public
Prosecution Service (Openbaar
Ministerie). August 28, 2007. Archived
from the original on March 21, 2012.
Retrieved August 28, 2007.
11. "Police clash with activists protesting
arrest of Philippine communist
 leader" . International Herald Tribune.
The Associated Press. August 30,
2007. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
12. "Nederlandse ambassade belaagd" .
NOS News (in Dutch). Nederlandse
Omroep Stichting. August 30, 2007.
Archived from the original on
September 30, 2007. Retrieved
August 30, 2007.
13. "No medicine, media for Joma; NDF
chair scores Dutch gov't" . GMA News
Online. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
14. Inquirer.net, Ex-US attorney general
calls for Joma release Archived
 September 3, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
15. Abs-Cbn Interactive, Int'l group says
Dutch govt torturing Joma Archived
February 9, 2009, at the Wayback
Machine
16. "Joma's lawyers to zero in on
jurisdiction issue" . GMA News Online.
Retrieved December 26, 2014.
17. IHT, Dutch court hears arguments for
release of Philippines communist
leader accused of murder
18. Inquirer.net, U.S. lawyers denounce
Sison arrest, detention Archived
 October 12, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
19. Inquirer.net, Sison to remain in jail until
Thursday next week—Bayan Archived
September 11, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
20. "Dutch court orders Joma detained
another 90 days" . GMA News Online.
Retrieved December 26, 2014.
21. Abs-Cbn Interactive, Dutch govt frees
Joma
22. "Live-PR.com" . Retrieved
December 26, 2014.
23. Manila Bulletin, Dutch judiciary
officials to check evidence vs Joma
24. "CPP: Hong Kong lawmaker to drum
up support for Joma" . GMA News
Online. Archived from the original on
May 22, 2011. Retrieved December 26,
2014.
25. Afp.google.com, Dutch court upholds
order to release Philippine communist
leader Archived October 24, 2007, at
the Wayback Machine
26. Abs-cbn Interactive, Dutch prosecutor
not dropping charges vs Joma
27. Abs-Cbn Interactive, Sison claims govt
agents tried to kill him
28. "Communist leader Sison asks Dutch
court to drop case - INQUIRER.net,
 Philippine News for Filipinos" .
Archived from the original on
December 26, 2014. Retrieved
December 26, 2014.
29. abs-cbnnews.com, Dutch court allows
prosecution anew of Joma Sison
30. "Purging case vs Sison, Jalandoni,
Ocampo moved to Manila -
INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for
Filipinos" . Archived from the original
on December 26, 2014. Retrieved
December 26, 2014.
31. abs-cbnnews, Manila court set to try
multiple murder case vs Joma, Satur
 32. ABS-CBN Interactive, JAVNO, EU told
to pay for Sison’s 5-yr legal fees
Archived July 14, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
33. https://josemariasison.org/combat-
neoliberal-globalization/
34. https://josemariasison.org/specific-
characteristics-of-our-peoples-war/

Bibliography

Rosca, Ninotchka (2004). Jose Maria

Sison: At Home in the World. Open Hand
Publishing.

External links
Josemariasison.org
 The Arrest of Joma Sison (dossier of
the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
A talk from Jan Fermon, lawyer for Jose
Maria Sison on YouTube
comments from Jan Fermon and others
on UK/EU Terror Laws on YouTube

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Jose_Maria_Sison&oldid=911124055"

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