UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS -- Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison was a man of poetry and songs. He devoted his life to writing, engaging people in Maoist-Leninist-Marxist ideals, and singing.

During his nightly wake and public viewing in Utrecht the Netherlands, his memories were relieved through a reading of the poems he wrote in different facets of his life - from being a prisoner in the Philippines and during his brief detention in the Netherlands, to being in forced exile in a foreign land.

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One of the poems was titled, ’What Makes a Hero’, written in December 1977 in a Philippine prison after he was captured.

“It is not the matter of death that makes a hero. It is the meaning of life drawn… There is a hero who dies on the battlefield. There is a hero who dies of hunger and disease. There is a hero who dies of self-accident. There is a hero who dies of old age. Whatever the manner of death, there is a common denominator. A hero serves the people to his very last breath.”

The poem ‘Stages of My Life’, written in September 2007, was Sison’s mirror of the revolution he led.

“If you trace the courses of the stages of my life, the stories are quite simple, easy to recall with a head and heart. In the spring of my life, I observed the hardship of the toiling masses around me. My heart and spirit were moved. In the summer of my life, I decided to fight the oppressors and exploiters. I was tempered in the flames of struggle. In the autumn of my life, I can see the wide scope and the strong advance of the masses on fertile soil. In the winter of my life, I always feel from the field the flames of struggle. I am sure of the victory of the people.”

In ‘I am Determined to Rise’, Sison kept the tone of a fighter.

“The demons are laughing, they say I have fallen. But the people’s movement in the whole country is advancing. The red flag flies high, wafted by a powerful wind. The thought that broadcasts the seeds of the revolution… it is as if I did not stumble. ..”

Jolly person

Despite what had been said about him in public and in the media, his friends, family and close associates in the leftist movement described Sison as jolly, down-to-earth, a listening ear, a mentor, a teacher, and a person who had an undying love for the country.

A Dutch activist recalled Sison as a very open and approachable person.

“When I was 16, I was doing an essay about Marxism. I knew that he was in Utrecht so I wrote a very long formal email to him requesting an interview. He answered right away with a short line, ‘sure just come over.’ From then on, he became my friend and mentor. That’s almost half of my life,” he said.

In another recollection, a French activist said Sison’s ability to make moments lighter was incomparable.

“I was having a very intense and serious meeting with Julie and other comrades, I think. And Joma was in the background singing something like ‘Besame Mucho’, or something,” he recalled.

For a close friend who was with Sison almost every day since 1996, he will miss their daily conversations, meetings with people, interviews, and engagements.

“Wala na lahat 'yan. Ako iyong sumusubok na umasiste sa kaniya. Halos araw-araw iyon. Madalas siyang nag-e-encourage at hindi niya nakakalimutang mag-appreciate ng mga taong nasa paligid sa kaniya. Very rich ang kanyang person.” (Everything is gone. I was with him every day. More often he encouraged people and never forgot to appreciate those around him. He had a wide understanding of things as a person).

He added that Sison was a natural people-person who engaged everyone from the different political, social, and economic spectrums.

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“Nagtitiyaga siyang nagpapaliwanag, kahit mga trolls, kahit trash-talking sila, insult o kantiyaw. Hindi siya nagpapadala. Kaya niyang magpaliwanag kahit maghapon.” (He painstakingly explained difficult contexts, even to trolls, even to those trash talking, insulting him. He never got tired and never stooped to their level. He could explain the whole day.)

Another friend recalled Sison as a naturally happy person.

"He loved to tell jokes. He loved to tell stories. He loved to tell stories of his adventures, and of his family. We always enjoyed his company when he was around. He enjoyed parties. He enjoyed life."

‘Mao’s Way’

Sison’s wake is simple. His coffin is made of wood and draped with a red communist flag. Flower arrangements, mainly of red roses, photos of him, and a frame with words that read “to the great revolutionary leader, thinker, and poet” were laid below it.

His wife, Julie de Lima, thanked those who came to the wake, saying much is still to be done.

“Thank you everyone for the comfort you are giving me. It makes empty days bearable… makes me keep on working on the things we planned to finish together which he left me to finish. With your support and the strength you are giving me, I think I will prevail. I will finish all the books that we had planned to publish.”

Singing and karaoke were Sison’s favorite pastime. Almost every meeting or gathering with him ended in karaoke sessions.

During the wake, his favorite songs were softly played in the background and then capped with a video of Sison singing "Mao's Way", his version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.

The public viewing of the remains of Sison will be until Dec. 23 in Utrecht. The cremation ceremony will be held on Dec. 27.

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