Concluding Remarks
Let me stress that the Manila government, the US government and other foreign governments are violators of human rights and are reprehensible for labeling, libeling and listing the CPP, NPA and the NDFP chief political consultant as “terrorists” and for filing false criminal charges against me. By doing so, they have also damaged and delayed the peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Manila government. They have exposed the limits of their claims to democracy and, more candidly speaking, the fundamental rottenness of ruling systems that are controlled by exploiting classes, such as the monopoly bourgeoisie in imperialist countries and the big compradors and landlords in a client-state like the Philippines.
The US and other imperialist powers are condemnable for using as pretext the so-called war on terror to encroach on the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries and designate political forces like the CPP and NPA and individuals like me as “terrorist” without any proof of any terrorist act that is within the jurisdiction of any of the imperialist countries. I was put on the terrorist blacklist of the Dutch government and then the European Union, denied basic rights and deprived of all social benefits and subjected to stigmatization and incitement to hatred, without my being informed of any act of terrorism imputed to me, without any proper investigation and without respecting my right to counsel and the right to go to court prior to the terrorist listing and the punitive actions taken against me.
With a deep sense of gratitude to my lawyers, the solidarity activists and the people in various countries, I am pleased about having won in 2007 before the Dutch courts my case against the false charges of murder and in 2009 before the European Court of Justice my case against my inclusion in the terrorist blacklist of the European Union after seven long years of litigation. But I am always reminded by myself and by many others with a sense of justice and fairness that I should not have been persecuted in the first place and that those who have the most power and the most wealth in my country and their imperialist allies abroad can still get back to me at any time and brazenly persecute me again. Indeed, I remain vulnerable to those powerful interests that wish to silence me. They persist in trying to stop me from exercising my fundamental rights to think, write and speak freely in support of the exploited and oppressed people.
I am also always reminded of the fact that I have been unjustly and unfairly refused residence by the Dutch government for more than 24 years despite the fact that I have been a recognized political refugee since 1992, with a spouse who has legal residence in The Netherlands and with two children who are naturalized Dutch, and despite the fact I have the fundamental right to be presumed innocent in the absence of any criminal conviction by any court. Worst of all, the Dutch authorities have never taken the steps to prosecute those who tried to assassinate me in 1999 and 2000 despite the evidence presented from 2000 to 2007. The Dutch police themselves uncovered evidence on the assassination plot against me while they were investigating the false criminal charges against me in 2007.
Despite the dismal and unjust character of bourgeois democracy in imperialist countries, I am happy about the rise of the democratic mass movement of the people in Europe, against the worsening economic and social crisis, against the growing repressive conditions, against imperialist support for counterrevolutions and against wars of aggression. I welcome and support the spread of the Occupy movement, the Indignado mass protests in Spain, the popular uprisings in Greece and all other forms of resistance in various capitalist countries. I stand in solidarity with the rising international democratic mass movement of the 99 per cent against the 1 per cent. I am also aware that the CPP, NPA and the NDFP support this movement. The people of the world have common aspirations and need to support each other in waging anti-imperialist and democratic struggles.
As chairperson of the International League of Peoples´ Struggle, which has hundreds of member-organizations in more than 40 countries in all continents, I am fortunate to have a vantage for helping to arouse, organize and mobilize the people of various oppressed and exploited classes and sectors to engage in anti-imperialist and democratic struggle. As the crisis of global capitalism worsens, exploitation and oppression escalate in both the imperialist countries and the client states. Reactionary trends and currents like those of fascism, xenophobia, racial discrimination and religious bigotry are becoming rampant. The imperialist powers are trigger-happy and are more prone than ever before to unleash wars of aggression and all reactionary states are becoming more repressive and brutal.
The broad masses of the people must resolutely and militantly wage struggles to defend their democratic rights and interests. They are the real source of democracy. They must win the struggle for democracy, whether the aim is to achieve national liberation or socialism. The proletariat and people in both the developed and underdeveloped countries have a common basis for solidarity and mutual support against imperialism and reaction. Their united struggle can lead to a fundamentally new and better world of greater freedom, democracy, social justice, all-round development and peace.
Thank you.
Further Readings:
(In chronological order)
Struggle for National Democracy, Jose Maria Sison, Progressive Publications, 1967.
Rectify Errors, Rebuild the Party, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), December 26, 1968, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/rectify-errors-rebuild-the-party
Philippine Society and Revolution, Amado Guerrero, CPP Founding Chairman, July 30, 1970, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/philippine-society-and-revolution
Specific Characteristics of our People’s War, December 1, 1974, Amado Guerrero, CPP Founding Chairman, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/specific-characteristics-of-our-people-s-war
Our Urgent Tasks, Amado Guerrero, July 1, 1976 http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/our-urgent-tasks
The Philippine Revolution: The Leaderś View by Jose Maria Sison & Rainer Werning, Crane Russak, 1989
Stand For Socialism Against Modern Revisionism, by Armando Liwanag, CPP Chairman, January 15, 1992, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/stand-for-socialism-against-modern-revisionism
Reaffirm our Basic Principles and Rectify Errors, CPP Central Committee, July 1, 1992, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/muling-pagtibayin-ang-ating-mga-saligang-prinsipyo-at-iwasto-ang-mga-pagkakamali
The English version can be downloaded from: Reaffirm Our Basic Principles and Rectify Errors* journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/kasarinlan/article/download/…/288
The Hague Joint Declaration, September 1, 1992 http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/the-hague-joint-declaration
General Review Of Important Events And Decisions (1980 To 1991), November 30, 1992 http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/general-review-of-important-events-and-decisions-1980-to-1991
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as Guide of the Philippine Revolution, Armando Liwanag, Contribution to the International Conference on Mao Zedong Thought, November 6, 1993. http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/marxism-leninism-mao-zedong-thought-as-guide-to-the-philippine-revolution
The Avalon Project Documents in Law , History and Diplomacy, No. 95-16779 In the United States Court of Appeals for the ninth circuit, José Maria Sison and Jaime Piopongco, plaintiffs-appellants, vs . Estate of Ferdinand Marcos, defendant-appellee. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/diana/16779.asp
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, March 16, 1998. http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/comprehensive-agreement-on-respect-for-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law
Requirements of the Revolutionary United Front, Remarks by Armando Liwanag, Chairman, CPP (Central Committee), April 24, 1998, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/documents/requirements-of-the-revolutionary-united-frontA
Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World, Portrait of a Revolutionary, Conversations with Ninotchka Rosca, Open Hand Publishing, LLC, 2004
The Supreme Court decision in the “Batasan Six” and Mass Leaders’ Certiorari Petitions, 1 June 2007. http://www.josemariasison.org/?cat=335
Scope and Implications of the Supreme Court Decision in the “Batasan Six” and Mass Leaders’ Certiorari Petitions, 15 July 2007, by Romeo T. Capulong, http://www.josemariasison.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ScopeImpSCDecBat6.pdf
New application to the european court of first instance against terrorist blacklisting, http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=6760
Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Seventh Chamber) of 30 September 2009
Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Seventh Chamber) of 30 September 2009. Jose Maria Sison v Council of the European Union. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism – Common Position 2001/931/CFSP and Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 – Actions for annulment – Adaptation of heads of claim – Judicial review – Statement of reasons – Conditions for implementation of a Community measure freezing funds. Case T-341/07. http://curia.europa.eu/juris/fiche.jsf?id=T%3B341%3B7%3BRD%3B1%3BP%3B1%3BT2007%2F0341%2FJ&pro=&lgrec=en&nat=&oqp=&dates=&lg=&language=en&jur=C%2CT%2CF&cit=none%252CC%252CCJ%252CR%252C2008E%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252Ctrue%252Cfalse%252Cfalse&td=ALL&pcs=O&avg=&mat=or&parties=Sison&jge=&for=&cid=1487294
Development, Current Status and Prospects of Maoist Theory and Practice in the Philippines, Paper by Prof. Jose Maria Sison, CPP Founding Chairman for the Conference on Maoism, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, 05 September 2012, http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=11334