UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS 15 February 2025 — The Jose Maria Sison Legacy Foundation formally launched on 15 February 2025 in Utrecht, the Netherlands in conjunction with Jose Maria “Ka Joma” Sison’s 86th birthday month. It was attended by Filipinos and foreign friends supporting the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation and democracy.
Various speakers took turns in explaining the vision, mission and ongoing projects of the Foundation punctuated with cultural presentations based on Ka Joma’s poems. In addition to the program, the event mounted two exhibits of archival materials and museum items that highlighted Ka Joma’s important writings and significant moments in his life.
Julieta de Lima, Ka Joma’s lifelong partner as wife and comrade-in-struggle, gave the keynote speech. She described their decades-long partnership from their early activism in SCAUP, the formation of Kabataang Makabayan, to the split from the Lavas of the old merger party, the reestablishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines based on the theoretical foundation of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, the early advance and gains of the revolution, life in the underground, arrest and life in prison and their life in exile. In going through the various phases of Ka Joma’s life as leader of the Philippine revolution, she pointed to the key writings and documents drafted by Joma that guided the Communist Party of the Philippines in confronting various challenges and in ensuring the continued advance of the Philippine revolution.
The next speakers presented the four main components of the Foundation and how they carry out its mission, which is to preserve, make accessible, and promote the broad study of his important contributions to the national democratic revolution in the Philippines and to proletarian internationalism: the website, the museum, the archives, and organizing events showcasing Ka Joma’s works that tackle various issues confronting the struggles of the world’s peoples’ in their quest for national and social liberation, justice, peace and prosperity.
The Foundation’s archivist and IT specialist walked the audience through the different features of the refreshed JMS website that were developed to ensure that Ka Joma’s important works would be easily accessible to progressive individuals and organizations interested in studying Joma’s writings on a broad range of topics. The archivist also spoke about the JMS archive and the work being done to ensure that Ka Joma’s papers and primary source materials are preserved for accessibility and use.
Dan Borjal, the executive director of the Foundation, explained the role of the museum in relation to the Foundation’s mission to promote the writings of Ka Joma not only as they relate to the Philippine revolution but to the world’s peoples’ quest for a better future free from exploitation and oppression by a few against the many. He pointed to the immense relevance of Joma’s writings in our current global situation where great changes are occurring that open excellent possibilities for advancing people’s revolutionary struggles.
Birthday greetings and solidarity and congratulatory messages were presented from progressive individuals and organizations around the world (including the Philippines, Canada, the United States, France, Ireland and Germany) that have drawn inspiration and guidance in their political activism from Ka Joma’s life and writings.
Luis Jalandoni, Chief International Representative of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, congratulated the members of the Foundation for successfully launching the JMS Legacy Foundation not only to honor Jose Maria Sison for his great service to the Filipino people and humanity but to make available Ka Joma’s works and writings to progressive parties and organizations waging their own struggles for liberation.
A message from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines was read, congratulating the JMS Legacy Foundation on its successful launch, citing its important role in advancing the Filipino people’s struggle as well as the world proletarian socialist revolution.
The event ended with communal singing of “The Internationale,” embodying the unity of all working people to build a world free from exploitation and oppression.
Missed the in-person launch? We will stream the recording of the event online on 22 February 2025:
🌏 For Europe/Africa/Asia Pacific: register at tiny.cc/jmslf-launch1
- 8:00 GMT (London)
- 9:00 CET (Amsterdam)
- 11:00 EAT (Nairobi)
- 16:00 PST (Manila)
- 19:00 AEST (Melbourne)
- 21:00 NZDT (Auckland)
🌎 For North America/South America: register at tiny.cc/jmslf-launch2
- 10:00 HST (Honolulu)
- 12:00 PST (Vancouver)
- 14:00 CST (Guatemala)
- 15:00 EST (NYC)
Press coverage
- Kodao Productions: “Foundation to preserve Joma Sison legacy launches” (17 February 2025)
- PinoyWeekly: “Pag-alala at pagkilala: JMS Legacy Foundation, itinatag” (19 February 2025)