Joma Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines Founder, Dies at 83
Is it the end of an era?
(SPOT.ph) Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison has died in at 83, leaving behind one of the world's longest-running Maoist insurgencues, a spokesman for the movement said.
Sison, who had long been on self-exile in the Utrecht, died last Friday after two weeks of hospital confinement, CPP spokesman Marco Valbuena was quoted as saying on ABS-CBN News.
Joma Sison through the years
His death came as the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Bongbong Marcos, took over as president. Sison founded the CPP in the late 1960s, just before Marcos Sr placed the country under martial law, citing an alleged threat from communist rebels.
The CPP and its armed wing, the New People's Army, fought government for decades, during which, Sison saw on-and-off peace talks that spanned six presidents from Corazon Aquino to the Rodrigo Duterte.
The last attempt to forge a peace accord during the Duterte years fell through due to allegations of ceasefire violations.