A personal obituary by the translator and co-author of Kasama Joma’s works

By Rainer Werning *

No later than the early 1970s, „Amado Guerrero“ (Beloved Warrior) had become the epitome of a revolutionary awakening in the Philippines for progressive and leftist social activists in this Southeast Asian island nation. As it would turn out years later, this was the nom de guerre of José Maria Sison – „Ka (Comrade) Joma“ for short by his friends – who died of heart failure in exile in The Netherlands on December 16, 2022 at the age of 83. On December 27, the body of a man whose name had had an electrifying effect for many for more than half a century and had become a trademark for leftists and revolutionaries worldwide was cremated in Utrecht.

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Beileidsbekundung von Eberhard und Suse aus Stuttgart

Liebe DPFler,
bitte überbringt der Familie von Jose Maria Sison unsere herzlichste und tiefe
Anteilnahme am Tod dieses revolutionären Menschen. Auf mehreren Reisen in die
Philippinen konnten wir die tiefe Verbundenheit der einfachen Menschen mit Joma,
wie er dort immer genannt wurde, erfahren. Trotz Gefängnis, Folter, Verfolgung,
Unterdrückung und Hetze hat er in Wort und Tat am Prinzip „Serve the people“
unbeirrt und selbstlos festgehalten und sein Leben auch im erzwungenen Exil
diesem Sinn gewidmet.

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Photo taken on 2 Dec 2022, during the protest action in front of the Department of Justice building on Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila. The demonstration theme –Stop the Killings! –the rally is a build-up activity for International Human Rights Day (10 December) and led by Defend Southern Tagalog and Tanggol Magsasaka-Timog Katagalugan