Jose Maria Sison was a Filipino revolutionary leader, political theorist, and poet who played a central role in the Philippine leftist movement. He was the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in 1968, which he helped rebuild under the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. He also played a key role in establishing the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP, which engaged in a protracted people’s war against the Philippine government. Sison was a major advocate for national liberation and democracy, criticizing imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism in the Philippines.
Before forming the CPP, Sison had been active in leftist movements as early as the 1950s. He founded the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines and became involved in organizing youth, workers, and peasants against US imperialism and local elite rule. He was a leader in the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism and played a key role in revitalizing the national democratic movement. His theoretical and organizational work laid the foundation for the resurgence of revolutionary forces in the Philippines.
During the Marcos dictatorship, Sison was arrested in 1977, tortured, and held in solitary confinement for over five years. He remained imprisoned until the fall of Marcos in 1986, after which he was released and resumed his political activities. However, facing renewed persecution, he sought political asylum in the Netherlands in 1988. Despite being recognized as a political refugee, he continued to face legal challenges, including being blacklisted as a terrorist by the US and European Union. These charges were later overturned by European courts due to a lack of evidence.
From exile, Sison remained politically active as a key figure in the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), serving as its chief political consultant in peace negotiations with the Philippine government. He contributed to several agreements, including the Hague Joint Declaration and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. He also led international organizations such as the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), promoting anti-imperialist and democratic movements worldwide. Despite his exile, he remained influential in Philippine politics and leftist movements globally, continuing to write and speak on revolutionary theory and social issues.
