Philippines wants extradition of Joma Sison

JoMa Sison with Philippine congress member and former vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda in Utrecht, the Netherlands

The Philippine government will be asking the Netherlands for the extradition of Philippine communist leader José Maria (‘Joma’) Sison.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said Sison still has to answer for the murder charges filed against him by the families of his former comrades whom he allegedly ordered killed. Gonzalez said that the Philippines has no extradition treaty with the Netherlands and that therefore another way must be found to get Sison in Manila.

Earlier this week (31 March) the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office announced it wil no longer prosecute Sison for his possible involvement in various murders in the Philippines. Insufficient proof was found against Sison. In a reaction Sison yesterday asked to be taken of the EU-terrorist list.

The 70-year old founder of the Philippine Communist Party (CPP) and its armed branch, the New People's Army (NPA) was arrested Augustus 28, 2007 in his hometown of Utrecht, but was released shortly thereafter. Sison was suspected of having ordered the liquidation of former allies turned political opponents in the Philippines, from his exile in the Netherlands, as recent as 2003 and 2004. It concerns the murders on political opponents Romulo Kintanar (2003) en Arturo Tabara (2004), in the Philippines. During the 2004 murder Tabara's son in law, Stephen Ong, was also killed. Sison has denied any involvement.

Sison's name on the EU-terrorist list

JoMa Sison’s name is on the international terrorist list. As a result, the Netherlands also put them on a terrorist list but removed him later. His name is still on the EU-terrorist list.

Sison is not recognized as a ligitimate ‘asylum seeker’ unlike for instance fellow compatriots (members of the NDF-National Democratic Front) Louis Jalandoni and his wife Coni Ledesma (ironically a former Jesuit priest and a former nun who were married by ‘what’s in a name’ Jaime ‘Cardinal Sin’ ). Both Jalandoni and his wife were the first Filipinos ever to be granted political asylum in the Netherlands (1976). Sison however has what could be called a ‘tolerance status’ and received a remuneration of the Dutch State (Supposedly his pension was halted following his placement on the terrorist list).

Philippino’s rally on Amsterdam’s Dam Square for the release of JoMa Sison 30 Augustus 2007

Sison was incarcerated in the Philippines for 9 years during the Marcos era. He was released by Marcos’successor Cory Aquino, supposedly as a trade for the CPP’s help in winning Cory the elections. Subsequently, while visiting the Netherlands in 1986, Sison learned that his passport was revoked. He made the Netherlands his home ever since.

In recent years, Joma Sison’s role and influence in the CPP has been an issue of debate. According to some he is now only a ‘couch communist’ clearly enjoying the benefits of living abroad, making the rounds at Dutch Filipino parties and who likes the travelling and hotel’s connected with his parttaking in the till now fruitless ‘peace talks’ between the NDF and the Philippino government. According to others (mainly out-lived and out-dated Belgian communist circles), he still wields a lot of influence in the CPP and NPA and gives his orders through ‘opinions’ in such a way he can’t be accused of supporting the NPA/CPP. According to Joma himself, he just want a ‘quiet life’.

Sison works at the NDF informatieoffice in Utrecht at the Amsterdamsestraatweg no. 50, Tel +31 30 2368722 and is available for interviews: Tel 030-2805781. ‎

The NPA has claimed responsibility for the murder on Kintanar. After the murder NPA spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said:

It was absolutely correct to put an end to his rotten, criminal, counter-revolutionary and bloody record.

According to Joma Sison, Kintanar was killed by the NPA because he was a ‘counter-revolutionairy’ who worked for the government and 'resisted his arrest' by the NPA. According to others, his only fault was to question the leadership and ways of Joma Sison and therefore had turned his back on the party.

For those who sometimes miss the Commie rethoric of the seventies a quote of Marco Valbuena, media officer of the CPP on the website of the NDF info office, congratulating Sison with the prosecutor dropping charges:

"There will be no letup, however, in Comrade Sison’s struggle against continued efforts of the imperialists and the Philippine puppet reactionaries to persecute and stifle him," said the CPP. It pointed out to "other fascist and ‘legal’ instruments, including the sinister US and European Union’s ‘terrorist’ tag on Comrade Sison as well as the CPP and the NPA."

See also (Dutch): Terrorist in Utrecht wil rustig leven