Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18) – The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has declared a 10-day mourning period for the death of founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison.
“We declare the following 10 days as a period of mourning for the entire Party in order to give the highest possible tribute to Ka Joma,” the CPP said in a statement on Saturday.
The CPP also ordered all units of its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA) “to stand in formation at the break of dawn of Dec. 26 and silently perform a 21-gun salute by way of giving the highest tribute and bidding farewell” to Sison.
“During this period of mourning, the NPA can stage tactical offensives against the rampaging fascist forces to defend the people,” it added.
Sison died in a hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands at 8:40 p.m. (Philippine time) on Dec. 16. He was 83.
He had been living in the Netherlands since 1988, when he applied as a political refugee after the Philippines canceled his passport when he was in the country.
READ: CPP founder Joma Sison dies at 83
The United States and the European Union have designated the CPP and the NPA as terrorist organizations.
In December 2017, former President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation no. 374, declaring the CPP and the NPA as terrorist groups.
In September 2022, Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 19 junked the Department of Justice’s petition to declare the CPP and the NPA as terrorist groups. She noted that the CPP-NPA “do not exist to engage in terrorism.”
READ: Manila court junks govt’s case to declare CPP, NPA as terrorist groups
The CPP said Sison was the greatest hero of the Filipino people “in their past century of resistance against imperialism.”
“His immense contributions to shaping the patriotic and revolutionary consciousness of the Filipino people and breaking open the path towards national and social liberation, will never be erased,” the party said.
“The Party and all revolutionary forces await the homecoming of Ka Joma’s remains or ashes, a wish he had expressed in the past. This will give the broad masses of workers and peasants the opportunity to pay their last respects, and give honor to the revolutionary leader who dedicated his entire life to the cause of liberation,” it added.
