Setting the Sights 
on Jose Maria Sison

It was a crowd of over 1,500 that took aim last March 10 at the Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in an activity dubbed “Kalibre 45: Araw ng Pagsipat.” At the sightline was Jose Ma. Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The target: to pay tribute to Sison’s immense contribution to the national democratic movement and undeniable impact on Philippine politics.

BY ROWENA CARRANZA
Bulatlat.com

Jose Maria Sison, who turned 65 last Feb. 8 and has lived in exile in Utrecht, The Netherlands since 1987, is credited for inspiring students in the 1960s and 1970s to be critical of society and seek radical reforms, leading to the formation of activist youth groups.

Sison himself founded the Students Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines or SCAUP in 1959 and the Kabataang Makabayan (KM or Patriotic Youth) in 1964 which were instrumental in the spread of student activism and the national democratic thought in the country. The youth radicalism’s intensity was demonstrated by the massive, intense and up to now unsurpassed student demonstrations that erupted in the first quarter of 1970, a political convulsion that has since been dubbed as the First Quarter Storm (FQS). This was also the period when the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought was quickly taking root among students, with Sison as the leading theorist.

Dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law two years later and thousands of activists decided to pursue their goal of genuine social change through armed struggle, which they saw as the only option left. They joined the New People’s Army (NPA), then at its nascent stage having been formed only three years before. As an FQS veteran said, FQS was “the spark that started the prairie fire.” At present, the NPA has under its command 128 guerrilla fronts, spread in more than 90 percent of the country’s provinces.

Hailed by peers

Directed by veteran stage director and writer Bonifacio Ilagan, Kalibre .45 did not simply consist of speeches, interspersed with a few song numbers. The well-designed and professionally executed three-hour-and-a-half production made use of video clips of Sison, live performances by cultural groups and three-minute speeches mainly by personalities from ‘60s and ‘70s who had personally worked with Sison.

The program essentially traced Sison’s life: his days in the legal national-democratic struggle (1959-1968), as the founding chair of the reestablished CPP (1968-1977), his incarceration (1977-1986), and his life in exile (1986-present).

UP Prof. Monico Atienza, a former KM chairman and now secretary general of the First Quarter Storm Movement (FQSM), spoke of how Sison led the students in forming the SCAUP and KM. Isabel “Ka Chabeng” Olalia, wife of the late labor leader Ka Bert Olalia, briefly talked of how she and her husband worked with Sison to advance the Philippine labor movement. The 92-year old speaker had to be assisted by labor leader and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) partylist nominee Crispin Beltran to get to the stage.  

Isabel “Ka Chabeng" Olalia, 
wife of labor hero Felixberto Olalia, Sr.

Raffy Baylosis and Prof. Judy Taguiwalo, both student leaders in the 1970s and now Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement) consultant and UP’s employees union head, respectively, discussed the two books written by Sison and which greatly influence activists to this day. Baylosis discussed the “Philippine Society and Revolution” (PSR) and Taguiwalo discussed the “Struggle for National Democracy” (SND).

Taguiwalo said Sison, through the SND, woke the youth to the true meaning of patriotism, the nature of classes and class conflict, importance of learning from the nation’s past and need to continue the 1896 revolution. 

“Ang pinakamalaking kontribusyon ng SND ay paglalatag ng mga tulay di lamang sa pagitan ng kabataang Pilipino at rebolusyong Pilipino, kundi ng tulay sa pagitan ng estudyante at masang manggagawa at magsasaka,” Taguiwalo, now a university professor, said.  She recalled how Sison exhorted the youth to go to the countryside “to learn from the people and to arouse them for the national democratic revolution.”

Amading Cornejo, also of the FQSM, recounted the early days of the reestablishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) while Rep. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna (People First), in a video interview, narrated how the Preparatory Committee of the NDFP was set up with the help of Sison.

Sison himself and wife Juliet, in a videotaped interview, talked of their incarceration, when Sison was placed under solitary confinement and detention for 10 years.

Away from home

Ruth de Leon of Defend International meanwhile, spoke of Sison’s life in exile.  She narrated how the Aquino government cancelled in 1987 Sison’s passport while on a speaking tour, forcing Sison to seek asylum in The Netherlands.

According to De Leon, liberation movements and progressive organizations abroad look up to the Philippines because of its rich revolutionary experience.  She said that Sison is among the persons most respected and admired overseas because of his principles and ideas.

She said, “Magugulat kayo sa dami ng government officials na dumadalaw sa NDFP office to talk to Joma.” (You would be surprised at the number of government officials that visit the NDFP office to talk to Joma.)

Writing is what occupies the bigger part of Sison’s life in exile, said De Leon. He also enjoys meeting Filipino migrants and thus looks forward the most to the June 12 Independence Day celebration of Filipinos in Europe which gives him opportunity to mingle with them. 

She said that the rumor – that singing is Sison’s favorite hobby – is indeed true. “Pantanggal daw ng stress,” said Ruth but jokingly added, “Pero ang nakaririnig ang nai-stress.” Sison reportedly once said that had he not joined the revolutionary movement, he would have become a balladeer.

Judge Romeo Capulong of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) talked of how Sison as a friend and client. PILC is handling Sison’s legal cases. To the crowd’s laughter, he described Sison as both a difficult and easy client: “Mainam na kliyente si Jose Ma. Sison. Siya ay palaaral, matalino, at masipag. Sa isang banda, mahirap na kliyente si Joma sapagkat kalimitan, pinangungunahan niya ang kaalaman ng kanyang abogado sa teorya at praktika ng kanyang mga kaso.”  

Human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong 
talks of Sison as a client

On how his client is coping with the terrorist tagging, Capulong, who also serves as ad litem judge of the International Crime Tribunal for the  Former Yugoslavia, said, “Si Joma ay may malalim na balon sa kanyang katauhan. Mentras hinahagupit ng pananakot ng mga kaaway sa kaso… lalong nagiging matatag siya.”

He added, “Nais kong bigyang-diin na sa lahat ng kasong ito ang tunay na isinasakdal at iginugupo ay ang buong kilusan para sa pambansang demokrasya, maging legal o underground. Si Joma simbolo lamang.” (I would like to stress in all these cases, the real target is the entire national democratic movement, legal or underground. Joma is just a symbol.)

Capulong said that Sison’s enemies have the mistaken notion that by persecuting Sison, they are preventing the movement from advancing. “They are wrong,” said the lawyer.

Still relevant

When interviewed by Bulatlat.com on the relevance of Sison to the present generation, Apo Alvarez of Anak ng Bayan (sons and daughters of the nation) said Sison showed how much he values the youth and student movement when he said, “Ang kilusang walang pagpapagahalaga sa kilusang kabataan ay tatanda at mamamatay.” One of the banners that hang in the hall, obviously put up by students, proclaimed  “Jose Ma. Sison: Mabuting Anak Ng Bayan, Kasama, Kaibigan, Ama, Guro, Tunay Na Rebolusyonaryo!”

On the other hand, Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, a tribal woman leader of Matigsalog tribe in San Fernando, Bukidnon province in Mindanao, said, “Itinaas nya ang pakikibaka sa isang mas malawak na rebolusyon, di na lang gyera ng tribo-tribo kundi laban sa tatlong pinakakaaway natin: imperyalismo, pyudalismo, burukrata kapitalismo.”

Ka Daning Ramos of the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (Philippine Peasant Movement) meanwhile said Sison, though the PSR, showed the true characteristics of the Philippines and how the peasantry serves as the main force of the Philippine revolution.

Sison’s way

Aside from video interviews of Sison, Kalibre 45’s highlight was the playing of recorded songs sung by Sison, accompanied with dance movements by cultural groups. Among the songs were Awit ng Proletaryo (Song of the Proletariat), Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (Love for the Native Land) and Bela Ciao.

Particularly applauded was his singing of Andres Bonifacio’s poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, which was supported by photos and video clips of revolutionary martyrs. First to be flashed was Antonio Zumel, former NDFP chairman who died in 2001.

Recordings of Sison’s poems “Sometimes the Heart Yearns for Mangoes” and “Fragments of a Nightmare,” interpreted by cultural groups, were also shown.

According to De Leon, a CD recording of progressive songs performed by Sison will be released in a few weeks as part of a fund-raising campaign for Sison’s legal defense. Sison, together with the CPP and NPA, was included in 2002 in the list of persons and organizations considered as “terrorists” by the United States government and the European Union council. Sison is fighting the action in the courts as well as the moves to block his request for asylum in The Netherlands.

De Leon and Ilagan also reminded the audience of the April release of a book on Sison, written by the New York-based novelist Ninotchka Rosca and titled “At Home in the World.”

In his closing speech, Ilagan announced that the FQSM recently elected Sison chairman emeritus of the FQSM. He read the FQSM resolution, which recognized Sison as “the only Filipino with the most progressive political influence on the various generations of Filipino youths in the last 45 years.” Ilagan cited how Sison continues to lead and serve as a major pillar of the Philippine liberation movement.

Kalibre 45 ended with the singing of a revised “Internationale.” The first stanza was sung by Sison and he was joined later by cultural groups and the audience. Unlike some gatherings held by progressive groups, the audience stayed glued to their seats throughout the production, with a few waiting a few more minutes before leaving the hall even after the last song was sung.

Teddy Casiño of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) and Melay Dapulang of KMU emceed the affair, while the groups Tambisan sa Sining, Kumasa-Pamantik of Southern Tagalog, Sining Bugkos, Musikang Bayan, Karatula, Sining Lila, Sinagbayan and unnamed cultural groups from the religious and national minority sectors performed.

Prof. Bien Lumbera of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers read the poem “Ang Pagwawasto” (The Rectification). The only solo singing was done by an unnamed barefoot girl with a melodious voice who sang “Ang Gabay” (The Guide), a song about the CPP.

Those interviewed by Bulatlat.com after the program not only gave praises to Sison but to the organizers and performers, particularly Ilagan for the “excellent” production.

Included in the audience were some of Sison’s relatives and “Charlie,” Sison’s former security man and staff.

Tribute to an entire generation

While the whole afternoon featured Sison and his role in the national democratic struggle, it was a tribute as well to the activists of the 1960s and 1970s who were all invited to sit at the first four rows of the hall. They were later given a rousing applause by the audience, which consisted mainly of members of people’s organizations and progressive non-government organizations and joined the people’s movement in 1980s upward.

In the closing video clip, Sison said, “Ang Marxismo itinuturo na pag inintindi mo ang nakaraan, inalam mong mabuti ang kasalukuyan at may ginawa ka, yung narekluta mo, yung nagawa mo, tuntungan para makasulong ang naiwanan mo.  Pag nadapa ka, may pupulot ng bandila para ipagpatuloy ang laban…E bale wala naman ako kung wala yung Philippine revolution na umuunlad.” (Marxism teaches that if you understood the past, studied well the present and you did something about it, the ones you recruited will continue what you started if you fall…Well, I am nothing without the Philippine revolution that continues to surge forward.) Bulatlat.com

Photos by Arkibong Bayan

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