Jose Maria Sison

Jose Maria Canlas Sison, known to many as Joma, was a Filipino writer, poet, and revolutionary who founded the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and shaped its ideology with Maoist principles, creating what became known as National Democracy. Born on February 8, 1939, in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, he grew up in a landowning political family. He studied at Ateneo de Manila University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and the University of the Philippines, later teaching literature, political science, and Rizal studies. His early activism was influenced by the Hukbalahap rebellion, and he joined the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) in 1962. After ideological splits, he founded the CPP in 1968 and, with Bernabe Buscayno, organized the New People's Army (NPA) to wage a proletarian revolution. Captured in 1977, he spent nearly a decade in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, until his release in 1986 following the People Power Revolution. He then lived in the Netherlands, where he continued to advise the communist movement until his death on December 16, 2022, at age 83.[edit]

Jose Maria Sison never had a fandom in the pop sense. No fan clubs, no birthday campaigns, no chart pushes. His followers were comrades, party members, and internationalists who knew him as Ka Joma, a Tagalog honorific that blended elder-brother warmth with revolutionary discipline. They organized not around his personal life but around his ideas, distributing his writings, commemorating his death anniversary, and carrying forward the struggle he had codified in the Communist Party of the Philippines. The closest thing to a fan ritual was the study circle, where his essays on national democracy were read aloud and debated with the seriousness of scripture.

His iconic moments were political, not performative. The founding of the CPP in 1968, the decades-long insurgency of the New People's Army, his imprisonment and eventual release, his long exile in the Netherlands, these were the chapters that built his legend. When he died in December 2022, the response was not mourning but a declaration: “Long live Ka Joma!” Vigils were held, statements issued, and his final chapter, cremated in exile, unable to return home, became part of the revolutionary lore.

But fame, in the global sense, has its own ledger. By the iFANN Global Fame Rankings, Jose Maria Sison is the 71st most famous person from Philippines, a placement holding steady from the previous cycle.[edit]

Jose Maria Sison’s life was studded with moments that became revolutionary folklore. He founded the Communist Party of the Philippines on December 26, 1968, splitting from the old Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas and launching an insurgency that would become one of Asia’s longest-running Maoist rebellions. A former professor of English literature and political science at Ateneo de Manila, he wrote extensively while in exile, his works preserved in archives like the Marxists Internet Archive. His release from Scheveningen prison in the Netherlands in 2007 was celebrated by supporters worldwide. After his death in Utrecht on December 16, 2022, his remains were cremated in the Netherlands due to security concerns, a final chapter of exile that his followers still retell. Stories of his resilience, surviving imprisonment, torture, and constant flight, have cemented his image as an indomitable revolutionary, though some recent retrospectives have sought to unmask the myths surrounding the CPP and its founder.[edit]

Jose Maria Sison, the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, died on Friday, December 16, 2022, at approximately 8:40 p.m. local time in Utrecht, Netherlands. He was 83 years old, having been born on February 8, 1939. At the time of his death, he had been confined to a hospital for two weeks prior due to illness; while reports confirm this hospitalization, neither the CPP nor his family released an official medical diagnosis or autopsy report detailing the specific physiological cause of death. The announcement was made by the Communist Party of the Philippines itself, which stated that he passed away peacefully in exile.

Public reaction was characterized by tributes from leftist organizations, international solidarity groups, and political allies, while the Philippine government maintained a stance viewing him as a terrorist leader responsible for decades of insurgency. The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) and other revolutionary groups issued statements honoring his life and work. The funeral arrangements were handled privately by his family and the CPP. His remains were cremated in the Netherlands on December 27, 2022, following a short period of mourning. The ceremony was not open to the general public, and no notable public performances or state funerals took place.

Attendees were limited to close party comrades and family members. The ashes were reportedly kept by the family or disposed of according to their wishes, with no public burial site established in the Philippines. Posthumously, the CPP continued to cite his writings and theoretical contributions as foundational to their movement. A book review titled "Unmasking the Myths of the CPP and its leader Joma Sison" was published in March 2026, indicating ongoing scholarly and political engagement with his legacy.[edit]