CPP founder open to returning in the PH

Photo: NDF International Information Office/Facebook.com

Founding Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Jose Maria Sison said that he is open to come back to the country if both the government and the CPP reach further heights as talks resume in an attempt to end the long-standing conflict.

He is also open to come home in the event he wins the National Artist Award for Literature (Poetry and Essay).

In a press statement released by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Sison is open to a homecoming if developments such as the amnesty and the release of all political prisoners, and the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) were agreed upon by both parties.

The NDFP also said that Sison welcomed his nomination and that it is also a “compelling reason” for him to come home.

Sison had already earned critical acclaim for his work as a writer. In 1986, he won the Southeast Asia WRITE Award for poetry and essay.

President Rodrigo Duterte had already stated earlier that he would allow Sison to come home. However, he had provided conditions such as  the release of all kidnapped state officers, and the rebels to stop collecting revolutionary tax.

The President also said that the government can shoulder Sison’s medical needs in response to reports surfacing that the CPP founder is sick.

Sison had founded the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1968 and had lived in exile in the Netherlands after his release was granted by former President Corazon Aquino.

He still remains as the face of an armed struggle that spanned nearly five decades.