Up to Joma Sison’s family if remains will be returned to PH — AFP spox

The decision to return the remains of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison to the Philippines will be up to his immediate family,  Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said Monday.

“We cannot speculate yet on what the decision of the immediate family…Maybe we should ask them first where they want to bury the remains of Professor Sison,” Aguilar said at a televised public briefing.

Meanwhile, the CPP said Monday it will not be declaring a ceasefire during the holiday season this year.

In a statement, the CPP central committee said there is "absolutely no reason to declare a ceasefire” to mark the holidays, its upcoming 54th anniversary, and mourn the death of Sison.

Last week, the AFP said it ruled out declaring a ceasefire with the CPP-NPA for the Christmas season.

“Ceasefire is ruled out because of leadership vacuum within the CPP after the neutralization of many of its top leaders,” Medel Aguilar told GMA News Online in a message Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Senator Ronald dela Rosa expressed belief that the death of Sison will lead to the communist rebel’s extinction.

“Prior to the death of Joma Sison, CPP-NPA-NDF, yung insurgency [sa] ating bansa brought about by the CPP-NPA-NDF was already dying and the more it will going to its extinction kapag namatay na si Joma Sison,” Dela Rosa said in an ANC interview.

“Whoever will be designated by the Communist Party to succeed Joma Sison will face extreme difficulty in reviving a fake cause. Mahirapan na sila dahil the people have awaken. Mahirapan silang manloloko ng tao. Ganon ang mangyayari doon,” he added.

Although he is a staunch supporter of government’s bid to end insurgency in the country, Dela Rosa sees no problem with the return Sison’s remains in the Philippines.

“Wala po akong problema d'yan kasi (I have no problem with that because) first of all let us admit it and let’s set the record straight, he was not exiled by the government. He was self-exiled [and] that led him to the Netherlands,” Dela Rosa said.

“So kung iuwi siya dito, for humanitarian reasons, tao rin naman 'yan, Pilipino din naman ‘yan at may mga pamilya ‘yan dito na naghihintay, pauwiin natin para mabigyan siya ng magandang libingan ng kanyang mga mahal sa buhay,” he added.

(If they will return his remains to the Philippines, for humanitarian reasons—because he is also a human, a Filipino, and he has a family waiting for him here— then we should allow it so his loved ones can give him a proper burial.)

In a statement, Senator Jinggoy Estrada shared the same view as Dela Rosa’s, saying Sison’s death would “further weaken” the CPP-NPA.

He said the CPP-NPA’s efforts to establish a communist state has been “nil” as the  insurgency problem in the Philippines, which is considered as one of the world’s longest ongoing armed conflicts, has been diminishing due to significant improvements in peace and development in the countryside.

“While they continue to be a threat that must be eliminated, their strength in numbers has been on a continuous decline,” Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, said.

“The government must take this opportunity to intensify the collaboration of different agencies, stakeholders, local government units, and even the general public in crushing the communist idea that drives the armed struggle,” he added. —AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News