(First of a Series)
Prof. Jose Maria Sison left the Philippines on August 31, 1986, soon after his release from detention in the same year.
He set
off for a world speaking tour right after the founding of Partido ng
Bayan. He went to Australia first, then the New Zealand as part of
his tour’s Asia-Pacific leg. Speaking engagements were already
arranged in different universities in Asia, Europe and the US.
He has
not returned to the Philippines since.
“I
could not return even if I wanted to,” said Prof. Jose Ma. Sison.
He and
his wife Juliet De Lima Sison were already in Japan when they heard
about the murder of Filipino lawyer and labor leader Rolando “Ka
Lando” Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-ay in November 1986.
“I
wanted to return to the Philippines, soon after Ka Lando was killed.
It was Julie who went back to the Philippines to seek news and ask
whether I could come home.”
Prof.
Sison was hoping that he could return to the country, thinking the
military must be ‘busog’
after killing Lando.
“But
comrades said, ‘No, they
are after you in the first place.’
Julie came back with the advice
that I should not return, and instead just complete my tour,”
narrated Prof. Sison.
They
proceeded to Europe after the Asia-Pacific tour. In September 1988,
the Philippine government upon the prompt of military officials
cancelled Prof. Sison’s passport. This forced him to apply for
political asylum in The Netherlands the following month.
Breaking
News in the Philippines
While
Prof. Sison is now thousands of miles away from the Philippines, he
does not miss out on important developments in the country. How he
keeps track of all the burning issues such as the elections,
corruption, Chinese intervention in Philippine waters, trade deals
with China, human rights violations under the Duterte regime, even
Duterte’s medical condition, to name just a few, is just
astounding.
He pays
attention to economic, social, political issues in the Philippines,
the relations of exploiting and exploited classes, how the Philippine
struggle is being carried out, and how the US imperialist power
remains dominant and influential in the direction of Philippine
economy and politics.
“I have
an outline knowledge of the Philippines, but that outline changes
from one situation to another. I keep on filling up this outline with
information from personal contact with visitors. When comrades,
allies or simply friends from the Philippines come to visit, I always
try to squeeze as much as I can get,” Prof. Sison explains.
Sometimes,
some of us in the Philippines even hear news from Prof. Sison first.
He is quite amused himself that he gets news ahead of us.
“I
also get news through the internet. I get ahead of all the Filipinos
of what has been printed for the consumption of the public. I get the
news ahead because the newspapers are prepared before the Filipinos
at home wake up,” Prof. Sison said with light laughs in between.
Prof.
Sison who came from big universities in the Philippines as a student
and an instructor, however, still reminds us that learning is not and
should not be confined in the halls of academe.
“You
may have all the high learning from the University, but you still
have to learn first hand from the peasants, if you want to do work
for the peasants, you must learn from them, and not just impose what
you learn from the academe,” Prof. Sison said
Sometimes
the Heart Yearns for Mangoes
When
asked whether he misses the Philippines, Prof. Sison instantly
replied, “Of course, I miss
the Philippines: comrades, friends and relatives, and the masses in
the course of revolutionary activity.”
Prof.
Sison said he uses the metaphor mangoes for his homeland and what he
misses most about it. He wants to come home to the Philippines, but
whether he has plans to or when will this happen, is another
question.
“I
desire that the revolutionary movement would advance to such an
extent that my return would become possible. Even if the prospect is
there with regard to the peace negotiations, that’s still dependent
on how far the revolutionary movement strengthens itself that it can
make agreements that would make safe my return to the Philippines,”
Prof. Sison explains.
He
does not regret not being able to return for now.
“The
enemy, it seems — as it turns out even from someone like Duterte
who pretends to be very open or very desirous for my return — they
have their own plans of capturing the peace negotiations by possibly
putting myself into their hands, and I would not allow myself to be
put into a situation completely under the control of the enemy,” he
said.
Even
if Prof. Sison misses the Philippines, his family and friends,
comrades and the masses in the struggle, even if sometimes his heart
yearns for mangoes, he is comforted by the fact that the
revolutionary movement grows stronger by the day.
“I
am like the farm worker or the migrant worker who seems to be immune
to homesickness because he needs to leave his village and find a
living elsewhere,” he added.
Prof.
Jose Maria Sison’s dedication to the revolutionary cause and
engagements in struggles at all fronts since his youth, in the
Philippines and internationally, turned him into the great man that
he is.
“I am not just a patriot. I am also
an internationalist. I am engaged not only with the revolutionary
movement in the Philippines but with the international working class
movement. I am at home in the world,” he said.