Joma Sison denies being a Dutch citizen

Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). (Photo: Jose Maria Sison/Facebook)

Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding Chairman Jose Ma. Sison on Tuesday denied that he has taken Dutch citizenship, contrary to the statement of Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.

“I have never applied for Dutch citizenship and have never been naturalized as a Dutch citizen,” Sison said in a statement.

Sison accused Roque, Ambag Bayan Facebook page, and government-owned People’s Television Network for spreading the “fake news,” saying that it was similar to earlier disinformation on his alleged arrest by Dutch authorities as a consequence of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation 374 against terrorism.

He challenged legitimate mass media or any respectable person to verify the fact of his citizenship from the Dutch authorities in The Hague or the Dutch embassy in Manila.

“In fact, my actual residence in The Netherlands is in accordance with my being a recognized political refugee since 1992, and also in accordance with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights,” he said.

Sison added that he can travel “for the purpose of peace negotiations under a laissez passer without having to be a Dutch citizen.”

The CPP leader and his wife Juliet have been living in exile in The Netherlands for decades after his Philippine passport was cancelled in 1987 under President Corazon Aquino.

Roque, in a four-minute video posted on social media by a group named “Ambag Bayan” about a month ago, said Sison has taken up Dutch citizenship.

“I do not know the status of Joma (Sison) because Joma … I understand, has taken Dutch citizenship, he’s a foreign national,” Roque said.

Embedded in the video are photo clips of Sison along with various women, implying that he was having a good life in Utrecht.

“It is exceedingly impertinent for my detractors in the Duterte regime to include in the film clip my photos with various beautiful persons over a period of two decades,” Sison stressed.

Referring to the photos, Sison said that those were taken during happy public occasions in which he and other invitees (overseas Filipino workers, academics and TV entertainment personalities) were “properly dressed and behave in a friendly way towards each other.”

Sison added that the “the objective of the Duterte propaganda machine in spreading fake news” against him aims to deflect attention from the “monstrous crimes of Duterte and his regime.”