MANILA: The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), can “stage tactical offensives” in honour of its late founder, Jose Maria “Joma” Sison.
“We declare the following ten days as a period of mourning for the entire Party in order to give the highest possible tribute to Ka Joma... During this period of mourning, the NPA can stage tactical offensives against the rampaging fascist forces to defend the people,” the CPP Central Committee said in a statement shared Sunday by the Philippine Revolution Web Central Twitter account.
It ordered the NPA to perform a 21-gun salute on Dec. 26, the day of its 54th anniversary and the culmination of their 10-day 10-day mourning period.
“Let us dedicate our Party’s upcoming 54th anniversary to Ka Joma’s memory, to celebrate his life and all the victories that we have achieved under his leadership and guidance,” it said.
The CPP declared Sison “as the greatest hero of the Filipino people in their past century of resistance against imperialism.”
“With Ka Joma’s passing, the Party lost a great leader... The Central Committee and the entire Party will forever be guided and inspired by Ka Joma’s immortal revolutionary spirit.”
The CPP said that it will give its members time to pay their last respects to the deceased communist leader once his ashes arrive in the Philippines.
Sison, 83, died Saturday after a two-week confinement at a hospital in Utrecht, The Netherlands, where he had lived in a self-imposed exile for more than three decades.
A former university professor, Sison founded the CPP in 1968, along with a movement that would later become the world’s longest ongoing communist insurgency.
For the Department of National Defense, Sison’s death “is but a symbol of the crumbling hierarchy” of the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front.
“His death deprived the Filipino people of the opportunity to bring this fugitive to justice under our country’s laws. Sison was responsible for the deaths of thousands of our countrymen,” the agency said.
It called on all communist rebels in the country “to turn their backs on the violent and false ideology of the CPP-NPA-NDF.”
“The greatest stumbling block to peace for the Philippines is gone; let us now give peace a chance,” the DND said.
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