ABOUT PROF. JOSE MA. SISON: BIOGRAPHY

By Michael C. Williams
Development Studies
University of East Anglia

Source: Biographical Dictionary of Marxism
Edited by Robert A. Gorman, 1986.
London: Mansell Publishing Limited, 1986.
October 18, 2001

José Maria Sison was born on 8 February 1939 in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, the Philippines.

He attended high school in Manila and graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1959.

He studied Indonesian language and literature in Djakarta in 1962 and returned to teach in Manila the following year. In 1964 he founded the Kabataang Makabayan (KM, National Youth) and was its national chairman until 1968.

Sison succeeded in linking the activities of the KM with labor unions and especially with Workers' Party (Lapiang Manggagawa), of which he also became general secretary. In 1966, he became the founding general secretary of the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN), a united front organization for national independence and democracy that sought to include support from the national bourgeoisie.

From 1963 to 1968, Sison was also editor of the journal Progressive Review.

Sison became founder and chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (Marxist-Leninist) from 1969, a breakaway from the older Communist Party of the Philippines (PKP), following a "Congress of Reestablishment of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of the Philippines" held in Southern Tarlac Province, Luzon Between 26 December 1968 and 7 January 1969.

In March 1969, under Sison's direction, the CPP(M-L) organized the Party's military wing, the New People's Army (NPA). Since then, the NPA has waged guerrilla warfare on Maoist lines against the government of President Marcos.

Sison until his arrest in November 1977, remained the principal CPP(M-L) theoretician and NPA tactician. He has since been detained on charges of subversion and conspiracyto commit rebellion.* Prior to its effective reestablishment by Sison in 1969, the Philippine Communist Party had lost the influence and prestige that it gained during the Japanese occupation of 1942-44 and the Huk rebellion of the late 1940s.

As chairman of the reestablished Party, Sison undertook a comprehensive class analysis and strategy for revolution, which he outlined in his Philippine Society and Revolution. From the beginning, the CPP(M-L) and later the NPA adopted a separate article in its Constitution on the "territorial organization" of the Party, which effectively gave local Party units self-government.

The Central Committee, Sison argued, should only put forward the "general line." Initiative was to be left to regional Party organizations in accordance with local conditions. Centralized leadership was always to be accompanied by "dispersed operations." At the same time, Sison argued for the need for "liaison teams" to operate between the masses and the NPA.

The teams were charged with establishing close contact with the public at large "through various flexible methods" and the conducting of "social investigation."

___________________________

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Struggle for National Democracy (Quezon City: Progressive Publications, 1967).
Amado Guerrero (Sison), Philippine Society and Revolution (Hong Kong: Ta Kung Pao, 1971.)

Personal Circumstances

Some Current Positions: Chairman, Board of Directors, Stichting International Network for Philippine Studies(INPS), l989-present, and General Consultant, International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), 2001-present.

I. Academic Record

AB in English Literature, cum laude, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines (UP), 1959; and Master of Arts in Comparative Literature, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines, 1959-61.
Membership in Honor Societies & Scholarships:
- 2.1. Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Pi Gamma Mu International Science Society
- 2.2. ICA-NEC Teaching Fellowship, University of the Philippines, 1959-61 & Jajasan Siswa Lokantara scholarship in Indonesian language, Djakarta, Indonesia, 1962.
Teaching Fellow, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences, UP, 1959-61.
University Public Relations Officer, Araneta University; and Executive Secretary to Dr. Salvador Araneta as Araneta University President.
Professorial Lecturer in English, Political and other Social Sciences, Lyceum of the Philippines, 1964-67.
Senior Research Fellow & Associate Professor, Asian Center of Graduate Studies, University of the Philippines, 1986-87.
Chairman, Executive Council, Philippine Center for Social Research, 1986-87.
Occasional guest lecturer on Philippine politics, economy and culture in Utrecht University and other European universities, 1987- present.

II. Political Record

Founder & National Chairman, Kabataang Makabayan (People's Youth).
Vice President for Education, Lapiang Manggagawa (Workers' Party), 1963-64.
General Secretary, Socialist Party of the Philippines, 1964-65.
National Vice-President, Socialist Party of the Philippines, 1965-68.
Director for Education, National Association of Trade Unions, 1964-68.
Consultant, Malayang Samahang Magsasaka (Free Association of Peasants), 1964-68.
Adviser, Pagkakaisa ng Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (Unity of Peasants in the Philippines), 1969-71.
Founding Secretary General, Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (a broad alliance of democratic forces), 1966-68.
Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines 1968-1977.
Chairman, Preparatory Commission of Partido ng Bayan (People's Party), 1986.
Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in peace negotiations with the Manila government, 1990 - present.
Chairman, International Initiative Committee, International League for Peoples’ Struggle, 2000-01.
General Consultant, International League for Peoples’ Struggle, 2001- present

III. Other Significant Information

Torture victim and political prisoner from November 10, 1977 to March 5, 1986.
International University Lecture tour in Asia-Pacific and Western Europe, 1986-88, on Philippine politics, economy and culture in more than 80 universities.
Political refugee in the Netherlands, 1988 - present. The asylum case is on appeal to the European Court of Human Rights because of Dutch government refusal to admit him as a refugee despite two favorable decisions of the Raad van State (1992 and 1995) recognizing him as a political refugee and as someone protected by the UN Convention on Refugees and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Under continuing persecution by the Manila government. A prize of one million pesos on his head, 1989- present.
Chairman, International Network for Philippine Studies, 1989 –
Chairman, Center for Social Studies, 1993 -
Featured poet in poetry readings in the Netherlands: a. Rotterdam, Poetry International (1994), b. Vondelpark Poetry Festival, Amsterdam (1994), c. Poetry Park (1994), d. Dunya Open Podium (1995), e. Nacht van de Gekleurde Poezie-Kleurrijk Festival, Groningen, (1995).
Successful individual plaintiff in the human rights litigation in the US against the Marcos estate.

IV. Publications (Abbreviated List)

Brothers (a collection of poems), Manila, Filipino Signatures, 1962. This collection established him as a nationally recognized poet.
English translation of the poems of the Indonesian poet laureate Chairil Anwar, Djakarta, Jajasan Siswa Lokantara, 1962.
Struggle for National Democracy (a comprehensive book of essays on Philippine politics, economy, culture and foreign relations), Manila, Progressive Publications, 1967. This has influenced the legal national democratic movement since the 1960s. Available in Pilipino and English.
Philippine Society and Revolution, Hongkong, Ta Kung Pao, 1971. This has been used by revolutionary organizations as a basic textbook on Philippine history, basic social problems and the national democratic revolution. Available in Pilipino, English, Chinese, Japanese, German and Turkish.
"Jose Maria Sison on the Mode of Production in the Philippines", serialized in New Philippine Review, Vol. I, Nos. 1-3, 1984.
Prison and Beyond: Selected Poems, 1958-1983, Quezon City, Asphodel Books, 1984.
Philippine Crisis and Revolution, series of ten lectures delivered at the Asian Center of Graduate Studies, UP, 1986. Available in Pilipino, English, French, Dutch and Japanese.
The Philippine Revolution, New York, Crane Russak, 1989. Available in Pilipino, English, German and Japanese.
Articles and editorials on major political, economic and cultural forces, issues and trends in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, appearing in Progressive Review, Ang Bayan, Rebolusyon, etc.
Poems and essays on aesthetics and literary articles in various periodicals.
Inclusion in major national and international anthologies:
- 11.1 Pintig, Volumes 1 and 2. Manila: KAPATID, 1985
- 11.2 The Guerrilla Is Like a Poet, edited by Robert Majzels Dunwegan, Ontario: Cormorant Books, 1988
- 11.3 Brown River, White Ocean, edited by Luis H. Francia New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1993
- 11.4 Voices of Conscience (Poetry from Oppression), edited by Hume Cronyn, et al. Manchester: Iron Press Work, 1995.
Gedichten, Selected Poems, translated from English to Dutch. Utrecht, Stichting INPS, 1993.
Ten volumes of selected works now in the process of being edited for publication.

V. Literary and Other Awards

Literary Achievement Award for poetry and essay writing from the Writers' Union of the Philippines, 1985.
National Book Award for Poetry (Prison and Beyond), Manila Critics Circle, 1985.
The 1986 Southeast Asia (SEA) WRITE Award for the Philippines for essay writing and poetry, chiefly for Prison and Beyond. Prestigious literary award in Southeast Asia.
Special award of recognition for outstanding contribution, as selfless and humane leader, patient teacher, caring and compassionate friend and exemplary comrade to the national democratic struggle of the peasants, workers and the entire Filipino people., 26 November 1994: Kabataang Makabayan 30th Year (1964-1994).
Marcelo H. del Pilar Award bestowed by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines as the highest accolade to its most distinguished alumni for their continued service and commitment in upholding and defending the people's rights and welfare. Given to Jose Maria Sison, poet, writer, revolutionary leader, during the 29th Biennial National Student Press Congress and 56th Annual National Convention, 21-26 May 1998

VI. Editorial Work

Founder & Editor-in-chief, Progressive Review (a political, economic and cultural journal), 1963-68.
Editor-in-chief, Ang Bayan (The People), 1969-77.

VII. Literary, Journalist and Cultural Associations

President, UP Journalism Club, 1958-59.
Founder & Chairman, Student Cultural Association of UP (SCAUP), 1959-62.
Member, UP Writers' Club, 1962-
Member, National Press Club, 1965-68.5. Member, Afro-Asian Journalists' Association, 1966-
Member, Afro-Asian Writers' Bureau, 1966-
Member, Wereldschrijvers Werkgroep, Netherlands 1993-
Member, Vereniging van Letterkundigen-Vakbond van Schrijvers (Association of Literary Arts - Union of Writers), Netherlands 1994 -