THE Philippine government is challenging the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to surface the party’s founder, Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison, amidst rumors and posts in social media hinting he is already dead.
Born from a land-owning family in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur in 1939, Sison is to turn 83 this February 8.
As the central figure and moving force behind the CPP that he founded on December 26, 1968, Sison’s death, if true and allegedly from “sickness,” may well be the final nail that would put an end to the world’s longest-running communist terrorist movement.
Presidential Communications undersecretary and spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, told Pinoy Exposé that aside from seeing the posts on social media, she had a “highly reliable source” from the Netherlands who told her that Sison is already dead.
“My highly reliable source says magkasama na si Joma at Ka Oris at Ka Bok.
Namatay ka din… (malaki) pahirap na ginawa mo sa Pilipinas…Kaya sana lang there is afterlife and Divine retribution…” Badoy said.
Badoy was referring to Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos and Menardo ‘Bok’ Villanueva, both members of the CPP Central Committee based in Mindanao and both personally known to Sison.
Madlos was killed in Impasugong, Bukidnon by elements from the 4TH Infantry Division last October 30, 2021 while Villanueva, the highest CPP official in Mindanao, was killed in Davao de Oro by units from the 10TH Infantry Division last January 5, 2022.
The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) also claimed to have information on Sison’s death from two sources from the National Democratic Front (NDF), which groups all the CPP-created front organizations such as those in the ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress.
However, the agency said it is still waiting “confirmation” from other sources inside the CPP camp before making an official announcement.
But Badoy said it is now incumbent for the CPP to surface Sison to prove he is still very much alive.
“The fate of their fake revolution, among others, is at stake here. They also owe it to the hundreds of our youths, our laborers and farmers whom they have deceptively recruited to join their ‘armed struggle’ to know the truth.
“Hindi ang karapatan at interes ng sambayanang Pilipino ang ipinaglalaban ng mga na-recruit ng CPP upang labanan ang gobyerno bagkus, ang karapatan ni Sison at ng kanyang mga kapwa-lider terorista na mabuhay ng marangya sa Netherlands habang nagpapakamatay sila dito,” Badoy averred.
“Kung hindi totoo ang mga kumakalat na ‘balita,’ hinahamon natin ang CPP na ilabas at pagsalitain si Sison,” Badoy dared.
At 83 years old, Sison, like the other CPP leaders based in The Netherlands is vulnerable to being infected with COVID-19 as the Dutch territory is among those still being devastated by the virus.
A report by the Netherland (NL) Times stated that as of February 6, 2022, the Dutch daily COVID-19 infection the past week averaged over 80,000 cases a day (Dutch daily coronavirus average tops 80,000 to set new record; Hospital figures improve | NL Times).
Rumors of Sison’s failing health has not abated since he left the country. The rumor now circulating that he is ‘dead’ was due to “confirmed reports” that he has been sick since last week.
As far back as 2015, one intelligence official who has been keeping a close watch on Sison noted that he has already started showing early signs of suffering from ‘Alzheimer’s Disease.’
Sison has been staying at The Netherlands since 1987, after managing to convince Dutch authorities that he is a ‘political prisoner’ and under ‘persecution’ by the Philippine government.
He fled the country to direct CPP operations by “remote control” and in the comfort of Europe after being released by Pres. Corazon Aquino a year before.
Aquino’s late husband, ‘Ninoy,’ not only backed Sison’s establishment of the CPP in 1968 but also its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) the following year.
As CPP founder and chief architect, Sison and despite his age and failing health, is now under tremendous pressure to revive the party’s dwindling fortune, especially in Mindanao, the last bastion of communist power and influence in the country.
Thus far, 5 of the CPP central committee members in charge of KomMid (Mindanao Commission) have been killed in military encounters, thus turning KomMid into a shell of its former self.
Aside from Madlos and Villanueva, already dead are Antonio Cabanatan (December 26, 2020); Anna Sandra Reyes (December 24, 2021); and, Pedro Codaste (January 21, 2022).
(See also Pinoy Exposé Volume 3, Issue No. 5).
Sison’s other gambit, the peace talk, has also foundered along with his effort to maintain the fiction that the CPP-NPA-NDF are ‘revolutionary’ organizations thus fooling many like-minded organizations and sympathizers, here and abroad, in giving material support to Sison.
Pres. Duterte in 2017 formally ended any national-level peace talk with the CPP, noting the latter has never been sincere in signing a peace agreement with the government.
Meanwhile, the NDF last year joined the CPP-NPA in the official list of Philippine-designated terrorist organizations.
Prior to this, Sison and the CPP-NPA are already in the terrorist list of the United States, the European Union, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.