Introduction
The following statement by Jose Ma. Sison, well known Filipino nationalist
writer and alleged Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was
originally intended to be read in open session before the Philippine Supreme
Court during a scheduled hearing on March 13, 1979.
The said hearing which arose from the habeas corpus petition filed on Sison's
behalf by Counsel Atty. Juan T. David was postponed indefinitely. As a result,
the public dissemination of this document has been held back.
However, the urgency of the statement's message, particularly in the light of
the brutal conditions of detention imposed on Sison, requires the immediate
publication of this document without any further delay.
The statement describes in detail the cruel and inhuman treatment applied on
Sison since his arrest by government intelligence operatives on November 10,
1977. His experience of torture in the hands of military interrogators is
common to many political prisoners arrested since the proclamation of martial
law in 1972. However, the length and severity of his solitary confinement and
enchainment at the maximum security stockade of the Philippine Army Military
Security Unit at Fort Bonifacio are unprecedented.
The statement also reveals the existence of two other documents written by
Sison under detention that have yet to be published. It is hoped that these
too will be forthcoming. This document by itself, however, stands as an
eloquent manifesto that refutes repeated official declarations of a humane
policy towards political detainees.
Statement Before the Supreme Court
March 13, 1979
By Jose Ma. Sison
Most Honorable Court:
I would have liked to speak on a broad range of issues pertaining to the
political charges against me. But considering the limited time allotted
to me to speak, I shall have to concentrate on the essential facts of my
experience in captivity, as they relate to the violation of certain
constitutional rights.
To make up for any possible deficiency in my oral presentation, I have
with my lawyer a number of statements and letters of information regarding
my detention experience. The most important of these is my account entitled
My Detention Experience and dated June 23, 1978, which reveals in detail
how I was subjected to outright physical torture on November 13 and 14,
1977 and how I continued to be subjected to mental and physical strain
even after those days.
Not to be remiss in my duty to the people to defend not only myself
but also the democratic cause, I also have with my lawyer a long statement
dealing comprehensively with fundamental legal and political issues pertinent
to the political charges against me. In this statement, I point out among
others the unjust redundancy of the charges of subversion and rebellion,
the double jeopardy involved. But most importantly, I deal with the
illegitimate foundation of the autocratic government and its military
commissions and the falsity of such claims that a Republic has been
saved by a monarchy and a New Society has been built by the preservation
and aggravation of the same semi colonial and semi feudal society.
I now start with my narration. I was arrested together with my wife and
three other persons on November 10, 1977, at Barrio Pagdalagan Norte,
San Fernando, La Union. I was in transit to a study conference of
democratic leaders on the subject of "The Fascist Dictatorship and
the Democratic Movement". This is the first time that I state in
the hearing of my captors the purpose of my presence where I was
arrested.
I have no complaint about the manner of my arrest, except one important
point. The arresting officers did not carry and did not show any judicial
warrant or even executive order specifying the persons and things to be
seized. Thus, persons and things were seized indiscriminately in gross
violation of Section 3 of the Bill of Rights of the 1973 Constitution.
I personally take lightly the intimidatory acts and words of those who
arrested me and I do not mind even the fact that I was pushed so hard
into a vehicle that my eyeglasses were broken and destroyed at the risk
of damage to my eyes and that my shins were gashed and bruised.
Soon after I was brought to the C 2 office at Camp Crame, then Capt.
Virgilio Saldajeno who introduced himself as a PC legal officer was
asking me to make a written statement. I said firmly that I could not
make any statement until I had a lawyer of my choice. My arrested
companions and I jointly and separately asked for access to legal
counsel, and relatives.
I had the chance to meet and talk with quite a number of generals
and Mr Marcos no less soon after my arrest. I was tempted to think
then that some civilised procedure would be applied on me and my
companions and that our constitutional rights would be respected.
At some time past 11 p.m. on November 10, 1977, 1 was blindfolded
and brought to what I would later find out after several months to
be the Military Security Unit of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio.
I was pushed into a small, suffocating room with a boarded up window.
On the succeeding two days, I was subjected to relays of interrogators
who kept asking who was supposed to be my successor in the Communist
Party, besides other questions. I simply refused to answer any of the
questions or parried them by citing my right to legal counsel or
drawing my interrogators into some political discussion. Among the
interrogators was Capt. Saldajeno who came on November 11 and 12,
1977 to ask me repeatedly to make a written statement. I maintained
as before that I would not make any statement without a lawyer of my choice.
Torture by Punches and Water Cure
Events took a very drastic turn between 8 and 9 p.m. on November 13, 1977.
On the allegation that I was trying to escape, I was blindfolded with my
own shirt and handcuffed behind my back by Lt. Melchor Acosta, then acting
CO of the HHC of MSU (I came to know his real name only on June 23, 1978).
After a while, another person came to subject me to barrages of fist blows
on the chest and floating ribs.
My assailant, together with still another person, interrogated me on such
questions as who are the AFP officers connected with the CPP, the armed
strength and disposition of the NPA, sources of funds, houses or barrios
to which I would go in case of successful escape, and so on. I was usually
given several blows for every question that was asked. It seemed that my
assailant was 'never satisfied with my answers as he kept on hitting me.
The punching session must have lasted for at least an hour.
I was subsequently chained to a cot by one hand and one foot, with the
use of handcuffs. The room was dark when I removed the blindfold with
my free hand. But a large flashlight was constantly on and focused on
my face. I was kept awake by two young men in their twenties who alternated
in asking me questions that had been asked of me during the punching session
and also in making death threats and insults. I was repeatedly told that I
would be killed as if I had been in the act of escaping if I did not
"cooperate. "
A pistol was always pointed at me by one of the two men who said from
time to time that I would be disposed of the following day. He kept on
kicking at the foot of the cot. He would also make a motion of wanting
to hit me and the other man would pretend to hold him back. It was obvious
to them that I was not intimidated. They would curse whenever I told them
to let me sleep or to learn methods of investigation from Hawaii Five 0.
Throughout the morning, noon and early afternoon of November 14, 1977, two
men who were apparently officers alternated in interrogating and keeping
me awake. One made veiled threats about a scheme to finish me off. The
other had a menacing style talking forcefully and occasionally flexing
one arm as if he wanted to hit me. I gave general answers only to those
general questions which any man on the street would venture to answer. I
can identify these two officers if I see them again because I was not
blindfolded. Both appeared to be staff officers of the MSU.
At about 4 p.m. of November 14, 1 was again blindfolded as a swarm of men
came into the room. I was able to see some of them, especially the one
who looked like a senior officer (he was later identified to me as Col.
Miguel Aure when he came to my room with Capt. Saldajeno on July 14, 1978).
I can identify as least three more of these men if I see them again.
My free hand and foot were shackled by handcuffs to the cot. Thus, I was
completely bound to the cot. A pail of water was brought in. A face towel
was placed across my nose and mouth. I had to be pinned down by the
shoulders as I kept on struggling, lifting the upper part of my body,
moving my head vigorously and at times succeeding in loosening the
blindfold and seeing the faces of my tormentors. At one point, someone
had to sit down on my stomach to hold me down as the water cure was in
progress.
Water was poured into my nostrils through the towel and my mouth was
held shut for strangulation effect in order to force me to seek relief
and answer questions. From time to time, a gun barrel was poked into
my mouth, especially when I did not make any answer or said something
that my tormentors did not like or appeared not to believe. They also
repeatedly threatened to subject me to electric shocks before they
would kill me.
The strangulation session must have taken some six hours. I was asked
about 85 questions which I would later be able to tabulate. These are
listed in my account dated June 23, 1978. These were repeated so many
times as my answers or lack of answers appeared unsatisfactory to my
tormentors. I had to suffer even for names and pseudonyms I was
completely ignorant of. I also had to suffer even for the names of
mountains and barrios I was not aware of. The questions were interrupted
with insults and death threats.
My tormentors were most persistent on such questions as the whereabouts
of Rodolfo Salas, members and staff of the Central Committee of the
CPP and so called underground houses; AFP officers and religious leaders
connected with the underground; identities of CPP leaders in the regions;
CPP sources of funds and supposed business enterprises; whereabouts of my
children; contacts with the Chinese Communist Party; the killing of Judge
Puno; and reasons for my having asked for Attys. Diokno and David as my
lawyers.
Towards the end of the strangulation session, when I was about to fall
asleep from exhaustion, one of my tormentors tried to apply hypnosis on
me and failed. For all their troubles, my tormentors got either negative
answers, cock and bull and trip wire. I was without food and sleep for
about 26 hours, from the beginning of the punching session to the end of
the strangulation session. Even after the water cure, two relays of
interrogators still came after my meal so that I was not able to rest
until around midnight.
Until November 17, 1977, relays of interrogators would come to the room
every morning, afternoon and evening. The first interrogators would
come as early as 5 or 6 a.m. and the last interrogators would depart as
late as 1 or 2 a.m. I had to maintain my wits and integrity even as I
was in some daze and was not allowed to recover completely from the
punching and water cure. I suffered chest pains as a result of the
punches and water cure and my hands were numb from the wrist down as a
result of the overtightness of the handcuffs during the torture session.
It would only be after two months that I would fully recover from the
chest pains and after three months from the numbness of my hands.
From November 15 to November 17, 1977, 1 was always blindfolded by
the guards before the interrogators entered my cell. Questions already
asked during the strangulation session of November 14 were merely
repeated ad n auseam. On the morning of November 17, someone came to
offer a deal: my reunion with my wife in exchange for one regional
secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. I merely ground
my teeth at him.
On the late afternoon of November 17,1977, Capt. Saldajeno came with
another officer. This time I was not blindfolded. Capt. Saldajeno
came to offer that I would cease to be tormented and interrogated if
I made a statement that would incriminate myself and no others. All
that I was supposed to do was declare that I am Amado Guerrero, Chairman
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
It was clear to me that the statement was being extorted from me,
although Capt. Saldajeno and his companion outwardly conducted
themselves like gentlemen. In view of what I had already undergone
and was still undergoing, and also in view of the danger that
anything could be done to me and could be claimed of me while I
was in solitary confinement, I accepted the offer on the additional
condition that the statement would include a part declaring that I
would not be making any other statement while I did not yet have a
lawyer of my choice and while I was still in the custody of the
military; and that I would soon be present in court.
What kept running through my mind was that my custodians had samples
of my signature, that I could be killed and later claimed as a
suicide and that a statement in my name would be for ged with my
dead thumb impression it to clinch authenticity. I was not concerned
with saving my life because I was aware that the death penalty would
be applied on me under Republic Act 1700 by incriminating myself as
no less than the CPP Central Committee Chairman. I was actually being
compelled to sign a death warrant. But my uppermost concern was to
preclude the possible fabrication of a statement that would incriminate
others and make me appear as one shamelessly untrue to the democratic
cause.
Even in being flexible while sticking to my principles, I still had
doubts that my tormentors would honor the agreement between me and
Capt. Saldajeno. It helped to resolve my doubts by thinking that my
self incrimination would be quite satisfying to the highest authorities
of the regime. I recalled that Mr Marcos had prejudged me by pointing
to me as Amado Guerrero, CPP Chairman, in his booklet Today's Revolution:
Democracy (1971). The prejudgement was in need of a basis, no matter
how artificial. And my interrogators would look too stupid if they
could not get that.
As a layman deprived of legal counsel, I also thought during my moment
of decision that if I introduced an untruth into the statement that
would make it entirely false if I would later be able to repudiate
the statement by proving the untruth, and its character as the fruit
of coercion. I did so in the honest belief of countering and outwitting
the unconstitutional methods applied on me to extract the statement.
But my lawyer now tells me that the military prosecutors will absolutely
refuse to allow evidence to debunk what they will insist on as a self
confession, regardless of its false basis in fact.
As a former teacher of political science, I have some understanding
of the right against selfincrimination, especially in the 1935
Constitution. Thus, I insisted on having a lawyer of my choice and
I refused to make any statement when I could. When my custodians
allowed me in the days before November 13, 1977 and after I was
compelled to make the statement dated November 18, 1977, 1 wrote
letters asking for legal counsel. But my letters were never allowed
to reach the lawyers of my choice, Attys. David and Diokno and other
addressees like my relatives and "Task Force Detainees" of the
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines. I
still have copies of the letters and these are noted in my account
dated June 23, 1978.
Having a formal knowledge of the right against self incrimination
or being able to recite it is one thing. But being able to exercise
it under conditions of isolation, torture and malicious threats is
another thing. I had to contend with the force, violence, threat,
intimidation and other means (the offer of relief from torture)
that was applied on me to vitiate my free will.
I was glad to acknowledge the counsel of my lawyer that there has
been a great deal of constitutional and jurisprudential progress
regarding the right against self incrimination. This had been
achieved by way of counteracting and nullifying the unscrupulous
and violent methods employed by law and my isolation. From the
beginning, my guards have been under prohibition from talking
to me except when they --- something for a few seconds on behalf
of their superiors.
I continued to be kept in a fully enclosed cell, a small room with
a boarded up window. From 11 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. of the months of
November to January, it is oppressively hot. In the summer months,
it is practically hell during the day and is oppressively hot even
at night. During the day, a wet cloth dries up in a few hours'
time. I am now enduring once more the intensified heat in this cell.
I was shackled to my cot by my right hand and left foot day in
and day out, on a 24 hour basis, for more than seven months, from
November 13, 1977 to June 23, 1978. This was constant physical
violence on my person. I consider this even more savage than the
punching and strangulation sessions. I was told sometimes by an
officer and at other times by the guards in some threatening or
mocking tone that I had to be chained because I had refused to
"cooperate" or because I would escape or commit suicide. I was
unchained only for brief periods of a few minutes to take my meal
or go to the toilet; and my guard always insolently hurried me
and often made insulting remarks.
For about four months, from the time of my capture to February 9,
1978, 1 was deprived of my eyeglasses (no replacement for my broken
ones), despite the grossly unequal visual capacity of my eyes. I
had to suffer eyestrain and headache every day. I was told that I
did not need any eyeglasses because I had nothing to read from the
walls and ceiling.
I had nothing to read for a stretch of more than four months and
after I was given something to read within a few days I again had
nothing to read for a longer stretch of time. I was also deprived
of cigarettes from November 12, 1977 to the end of February 1978.
This was started even before the physical torture of November 13 and
14, 1977 in retaliation to my complaint that my room was suffocating.
Until now, I remain in chains in the same stifling cell. Since June 23,
1978, 1 have been disconnected or unchained from my cot. But I am still
shackled by both feet by a pair of handcuffs during my waking hours.
Thus, I can only toddle around the room like a small child learning
to walk. When I go to sleep at night, I am chained to the cot. As from
the very start, the inspectors come so often to flash a light on me
even as I am already chained to the cot for my rest.
From November 10, 1977 to January 17, 1978, 1 was not allowed to have
any sunshine. In the succeeding 11 months from the latter date I had
no more than a total of 24 hours sunshine despite the standard prison
rule of one hour daily sunning for ordinary criminals already condemned
to death. Only since last December 1978 have I been allowed to have
sunning at the still substandard rate of three times a week at one
hour per time.
Whenever I am brouqht out of my room for any reason I have to suffer
the indignity and discomfort of being blindfolded until I reach the
destination, ---
--- forcement officers to extract self incriminatory statements. My lawyer
refers to Section 20 of the Bill of Rights of the 1973 Constitution and
the US Supreme Court ruling in the Escobedo Miranda case.
In gross violation of Section 20 of the Bill of Rights, I was under duress
and I was compelled to be a witness against myself. Though Capt. Saldajeno
and Agent Calayag who administered the making of my self incriminatory
statement on November 18, 1977 saw it fit to induce me to make such a
statement, they did not see it fit to allow me to consult with a lawyer
of my choice and moreover they did not inform me of my right to remain
silent and to have a lawyer.
Instead of informing me adequately on the right and allowing me to exercise
it, they took advantage of my forced isolation and the force, violence,
threat and intimidation applied on me by offering relief from these in exchange
for the statement of self incrimination. A person of my educational background
and political experience could not have refused to remain silent and to have
a lawyer as a matter of right had he been assured and allowed to exercise it.
I am told by my lawyer that enlightened jurisprudence would rather allow one
or a few culprits to go unpunished for lack of evidence than lay down a principle
allowing officers of the law to extract statements of self incrimination by force,
intimidation and other underhanded methods. Because such a negative principle is
liable to result in systematic and largescale * abuses by officers of the law
themselves, which abuses are bound to victimise more innocent people than real
culprits. The officers of the law themselves are also liable to become the most
privileged criminals.
Prolonged Mental and Physical Strain
After the statement of self incrimination on November 18,1977, 1 became relieved
of the torment of frequent interrogations and repititious questions and I was
allowed to recover physically. But I continued to be subjected to what eventually
turned out to be a worse form of torture. It was chiefly mental torture attended
by physical isolation, constant enchainment and other straining conditions. It
was clear that my tormentors were still wanting to break my nerves or my principles.
I was deprived of visitors that I would welcome. As before, I repeatedly asked
for access to a lawyer, my wife, others arrested with us and our relatives. But
my custodians did not bother to give any kind of answer, except some mocking
responses at certain times from inspectors who looked through a window of my
cell door. The days, weeks and months passed until August 7, 1978, when my
mother, sister and lawyer were allowed to visit me.
One or two military officers would come to my cell for a while at the average
rate of once in two weeks during the period of December 1977 to the middle of
February 1978. And then they ceased to come in order to complete ---
--- tion, either inside or outside of the MSU compound. Sometimes, the blindfolding
becomes painful when I am bumped into things by a careless or mischievous escort.
I feel that this blindfolding is designed more to humiliate me than anything else,
just like the other abuses that have been done on my person.
Until now, I have not been allowed to read even the Marcos lining newspapers of
Manila. Reading materials from my relatives and friends are not allowed to reach
me. When Atty. Joker Arroyo gave me a copy of the pamphlet Legal Rights of
Political Detainees last February 23 during a hearing, it was immediately
confiscated from me as soon as I was out of public view. When Atty. Juan T.
David, my own lawyer, gave me a copy of his Habeas Corpus petition to the
Supreme Court involving my wife and me, it was also taken away from me as soon
as he left the MSU reception room last February 28.
The authority to visit me which has been extended to my lawyer and family since
August 7, 1978 has been so limited or restricted that in effect there is only one
person in my family, aside from my lawyer, who can visit me. Due to her professional
and family responsibilities, my sister, who is my lone family visitor has been
unable to visit me at certain times for as long as five weeks.
My wife and I are detained in the same compound. But until now, even after more
than 15 months since our arrest, we have not been allowed to meet and talk by
ourselves at reasonable length, despite contrary precedents which allow not only
conjugal meetings between co accused husband and wife but even the temporary release
on account of the children.
My mother and sister have long wanted my wife and me to be visited by religious
people, especially by Archbishop Sison and by religious personnel devoted to pastoral
work among political detainees. I have agreed to welcome their visit since August 7,
1978. But my custodians or higher authorities do not allow them. At one time, I am
told that communists do not talk to religious people. At another time, I am told that
religious people are in collusion with communists.
My requests for medical and dental treatment from MSU medical personnel have not been
attended to for periods as long as five months. Each time that my dental treatment
was allowed, the attention was superficial and incomplete. The last time my two
lower front teeth were treated for filling, the dentist practically busted these
plus one more tooth and did further permanent damage to them. I would like to have
a doctor and dentist of my choice, just as I have a lawyer of my choice. I also have
strong doubts about the medical treatment that I last received concerning an
obstruction in the pupil of my left eye.
There are so many seemingly minor vexations that have been imposed on me to make my
solitary confinement and enchainment truly trying. Taken in isolation, each of these
might be dismissed as a mere trifle. But this can spell misery for a person in
isolation, even if he were without chains and placed in an airy room. I can mention
some of these trifles.
I was once asked to undress completely in the cell on the grounds that I would have
to be inspected thoroughly before meeting my visitor. When I used to be chained to
my cot on a 24hour basis, I was not allowed for four months to clean my cot and rid
it of bedbugs which pestered me, especially at night. At certain times I have not
been allowed to have my hair and nails cut for as long as five months. When I used
to be guarded closely while eating, my guard would tell me to hurry up because he,
in colorful Tagalog, had a loose bowel movement.
Recently, my handcuffs which are also my fetters during my waking hours were
replaced with new ones which have sharp edges and tighten at the slightest pressure.
Upon my complaint, these were replaced with handcuffs that have only one link (usually
there are two or three) and make my toddling even more difficult. The replacement of
the handcuffs came immediately after I was observed listing down my complaints for
the benefit of my lawyer last February 28.
There are two important points I would like to raise regarding my prolonged ordeal
in solitary confinement and enchainment. Firstly, I wish to refer to the
constitutional right of equal protection of the law. Secondly, I wish to point
out that it is unfair and unjust that while I am being tried I should be kept
in a military unit where I have been subjected to brutal torture and where I
still continue to be subjected so relentlessly to mental torture and so many
physical difficulties and vexations.
By way of demonstrating the gross violation of my right to equal protection
of the law, I would like to compare the situation of Senator Aquino with mine.
The comparison is appropriate, especially because we are both in the custody of
the same military unit. After all the foregoing narration of my experience and
situation, all that I have to do is to mention the publicly known facts about
Senator Aquino's situation.
Senator Aquino has not been subjected to outrightly brutal treatment comparable
to what I have been subjected to. He has been allowed to give press interviews
not only to local newsmen but also foreign ones. Remember that not so long after
his arrest he was allowed to be interviewed by Tony Clifton of Newsweek. He can
issue press statements anytime he wants. He has been able to participate in
elections and to write a book.
He has a cottage of his own in the same compound where my wife and I have to
sweat it out in separate isolation cells. He has a refrigerator, a television
set, a radio, an airconditioning unit or ventilators and cooking facilities.
He can play pelota. He has overnight conjugal visits. He is visited by a wide
range of relatives and friends. He has been visited by quite a number of his
foreign friends.
Certainly, I would like to have the termination of the brutal and intolerable
conditions of my detention. I would like to be unchained and placed in a decent
room, preferably with fellow detainees, if not with my wife. I would like the
blindfolding business to stop. I would like to read the newspapers and books
of my choice, even only as convicts in Muntinlupa are allowed. I would like to
write as much as I want and have work and sports activities like other detainees.
I would like to have conjugal visits and the visits of a wide range of relatives
and friends. I would like to have such a modest facility like a radio which I
can afford and other legitimate facilities that my relatives and friends can
provide.
Why should I be discriminated against so violently and so grossly by the same
custodians that Senator Aquino and I have when in fact my legal status at the
moment is even relatively better than his? He has been convicted and sentenced
to death by a military commission, whereas I have not yet been convicted by any
military commission. He is charged with more offenses (subversion, murder and
illegal possession of firearms). I face only two redundant charges (subversion
and rebellion). The gravest charge against him is no lesser than the gravest
charge against me.
Why should I not be entitled to the right of equal protection of the law? Is
there not class discrimination even in the treatment of political detainees?
Am I not already so presumed guilty in a peculiar way that I must be
relentlessly tortured and deprived of decent civilised treatment? Am I to
believe what was always being drummed into me during my torture by punches
and water cure that I would suffer first before the final death blow?
In addition to the demand that my right to equal protection of the law be
respected, my wife and I would like to be transferred to another detention
center where other political detainees can observe how we are being treated.
The situation is such in the MSU that, even if one were allowed the same
conveniences that Senator Aquino has, a political detainee is absolutely
deprived of the least possibility of having a witness in his favour
whatever is done to him and claimed against him by the authorities.
It is unfair and unjust that I be subjected to trial by military commissions
that do not assume full and direct responsibility for our custody and
treatment. I am still being subjected to conditions of duress. I can
still be harmed any time and my complaint will be too late and futile,
except to inform the people. My mother, sister and lawyer have too long
and too often been given the run around, although everybody knows that
my custodians, interrogators, prosecutors and judges are all under the
executive and military command of Mr Marcos.
As a result of this statement, I am almost certain that there will be
a series of retaliations against me. It has been my experience that
whenever I make a request or demand and at the same time invoke a
certain right, my custodians or higher authorities always seem to take
offense and react by not only refusing to accede to the request or demand,
but also doing something to make my situation worse. It seems that in
their view I have completely lost every right.
Such is the arrogance of fascists, high and low. They want you to crawl
on your knees for the return of a little fraction of so much that they
have taken away illegally and unconstitutionally. Then, for the return
of that little fraction, they want to grab so much more or the whole lot
of what you might still have. Thus, for instance, I have been told that
my wife and I shall have conjugal meetings only after we shall have
pleaded guilty to charges against us in order to cut short the proceedings
of the military commissions.
It is the same story as when I was offered my immediate reunion with my
wife in exchange for one regional secretary of the Communist Party. The
fascist brutes were angling so that they could crush the Communist Party
at one blow by getting hold of someone as the key to the Second National
Congress of the CPP. But I was not in any position to give the brutes that
satisfaction, even as they were stupid enough to underestimate my integrity
and wits.
Upon the good counsel of my lawyer, I insist on certain constitutional
rights in this statement. But in another statement, as I have already
said, I make a comprehensive and fundamental criticism and condemnation
of the anti national and anti democratic reign of terror and greed. By
actively participating in my legal defense, I try not only to expose,
delay or stay the hand of injustice about to smite me but also to
continue doing my bit in the defense of the people's democratic cause.
I am aware that so far my ordeal in the hands of the fascists is so
slight in comparison to the torture suffered by several of my co accused.
It is also as nothing in comparison to the torture and murder as well
as massacre of thousands of revolutionary martyrs. With this awareness,
I am determined to keep on fighting and I am prepared to undergo further
fascist brutality until my tormentors decide to finally kill me.
The broad masses of the people will eventually put the whole lot of
their oppressors in their proper places. Right now, the organised democratic
revolutionary forces are steadily growing in strength and advancing. US
imperialism and the local exploiting classes will utterly regret that the
fascist regime has only served to accelerate the rise of the revolutionary
forces and the doom of the already outmoded system.
Signed: Jose Ma. Sison
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