Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) acting spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar /Photo from AFPCMOS Facebook
MANILA, Philippines —The death of Jose Ma. Sison, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has been described by an AFP official as a devastating setback for the communist insurgency, with the suggestion that combatants and supporters of the underground movement will now lose their “sense of purpose.”
Col. Medel Aguilar, the spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said on Monday at the Laging Handa Public Briefing that without Sison, the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), would be stumbling, leading to low morale among the underground members.
CPP confirmed last Saturday that Sison, founder of the CPP and one of the country’s literary minds during the martial law era, died while in exile in the Netherlands on Friday. He was confined for two weeks at a hospital before his death.
“Of course, it will further weaken the underground mass organization, as what they claim that Jose Ma. Sison, his death itself and guiding light, this means that they will also lose their sense of purpose, their direction, and therefore would make it to demoralization among its members, disintegration, and hopefully to the end of armed struggle,” Medel said.
Aguilar said it would be hard for the CPP to find a new leader of Sison’s quality and charisma, especially since most senior leaders have been neutralized.
“I think the problem is within the organization. Could (it) find a new leader of this quality? For us, it is an opportunity to engage their leaders in the tactical level so we can have peace at the tactical (level), among our communities,” Aguilar claimed
“It’s for the CPP to decide, to look for his replacement. But none of the remaining leaders, because many of them have been neutralized, are [of] the same quality as Sison. So that’s a big problem now for the underground organization,” he added.
INQUIRER.net has sought the CPP’s side on Aguilar’s claims but no reply yet as of posting time.
Regarding where the CPP founder’s remains would be laid to rest, Aguilar said the military does not want to speculate, saying that it depends on the decision of the immediate family of Sison.
“We cannot speculate yet on what the decision of the immediate family [is]. Maybe we should ask them first where they want to bury the remains of Professor Sison,” he noted.
Sison, who launched what is now one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies during the late 1960s, was in the Netherlands after being unable to return to the country. He was 83.
The CPP founder’s family said the funeral and interment details would be announced later, possibly bringing home his remains or ashes according to the late revolutionary leader’s wishes.
Sison’s death came just 10 days before the CPP marks its 54th anniversary on December 26.
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