Joma denies being part of AFP-PNP group seeking Duterte’s ouster

Jose Maria Sison. Photo by Kristine Angeli Sabillo/INQUIRER.net

LUCENA CITY – Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison on Thursday denied accusations that he is part of the supposed
group of military and policemen Patriotic and Democratic Movement (PADEM) seeking ouster of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement, Sison denied being close to one Jon Bustamante that a military cyber expert said uploaded a statement from PADEM from a social domain in Utrecht, The Netherlands where Sison has been living in exile since 1986.

“It is silly speculative surplusage for him (military spokesman Brig. General Restituto Padilla) to mention my name as being close to
Bustamante,” Sison said.

He said Padilla and the unknown military cyber expert were “engaged in pure speculation and barking up on a wrong tree”.
Sison quoted Bustamante who said that he received the PADEM call for the ouster of Duterte by military and police officers from the Philippines and the US.

“It did not originate from Bustamante,” Sison said.

A statement purportedly being circulated by PADEM is calling for the ouster of Duterte “for betraying public trust in violation of public
trust and in violation of national sovereignty and democratic rights of the people.” It was circulated online by “Pinoy Abrod”, an Amsterdam-based publication of overseas Filipino contract workers.

Sison also posted a copy of the statement on his Facebook page.

“I received my copy via Facebook friends in the Philippines and the US before I saw the copy appearing in Pinoy Abrod. I decided to post it
in the Timeline of my Facebook account after examining the face value and validity of the ten condemnations of Duterte and his regime,” Sison said.

Sison said he became more convinced of the authenticity of the statement “when Dr. Dante Simbulan called on his fellow PMAyers to join PADEM”.

“It is understandable why the PADEM leaders and members are not yet revealing their real identities. If they do so prematurely, they would
be subjected to punitive measures and even physical elimination,” Sison explained.

He said the obscurity of the group should not give Padilla the license to call PADEM a one-man organization.

“He himself declares that the complaints of the call are worth addressing by the authorities concerned,” Sison said.