Bios, Surnames

Jose Maria Sison

Jose Maria “Joma” Sison was the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1968, a breakaway group of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas which was founded in the 1930s. Contrary to what one would expect from the leader of a socialist revolutionary movement, Joma descended from the landed principalia of Ilocos.

Joma was born in 1939 in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. He met his future wife Julieta de Lima at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where both studied and worked. Julieta’s third cousin Vicente is the father of former Senator Leila de Lima.

Joma’s parents, Salustiano Sison and Florentina Canlas, were both born to wealthy families. His father’s family estate included vast tobacco holdings and they employed an army of tenant farmers. His mother’s family also had large agricultural estates in Mexico, Pampanga.

Joma’s paternal grandfather, Gorgorio Sison was the last capitan municipal of Cabugao under the Spanish colonial regime. He became the municipal president under the Philippine Republic and later, the town mayor under the American occupation. He was also a juez de paz or justice of the peace. Between the 1700s and 1860, the Sison paternal line can be traced from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur to Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Lingayen, Pangasinan, where their clan supposedly descended from a Chinese merchant ship captain.

The Sison family wealth grew when Gorgonio, Joma’s grandfather, married Martiniana Serrano, whose father was Leandro Serrano. Leandro Serrano was a gobernadorcillo of Cabugao and he controlled the largest estate in Northern Luzon during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Joma recounted that his ancestor owned eighty percent of their hometown and large chunks of 10 other towns — from Badoc, Ilocos Norte to Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur.

Leandro was the illegitimate son of Modesto Solla Soloza. When Leandro’s paternal grandmother Maria Solla died in 1883, he was named the universal heir when he was still a single man. He took control of all of the property, but he failed to share the proceeds with the other heirs. The other heirs, his relatives, took him to court and this was the subject of a Supreme Court case in 1926. By that time, Leandro was already dead.

Joma is connected by blood to some prominent Filipinos. Brothers Sixto Brillantes Jr., former COMELEC chair, and Jose Brillantes, former Labor Secretary and ambassador are Joma’s second cousins.

Joma is surprisingly connected to other interesting Filipinos who used the written word to try to bring social change:

(1) Joma Sison is distantly related to Isabelo de los Reyes, labor leader and co-founder of the Philippine Independent Church. Joma’s father’s first cousin Jesus Serrano married Asuncion Florentino, who is the daughter of Isabelo’s second cousin.

(2) The marriage of Jesus and Asuncion, also connects Joma to the Rizal family. Asuncion’s second great aunt Paula Florentino had at least one child with Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo, the father of Teodora Alonzo, who is the mother of Jose Rizal.

Joma Sison’s family embodied provincial feudal privilege. They had sprawling land worked on by hardworking peasants. They intermarried with other privileged families. They grew rich on the backs of poor farmers. Perhaps, his family history provided a lasting impact on Joma Sison and his own legacy.

Mona Magno-Veluz is a self-confessed history geek, “ninuno” hunter, and certified “tita”. She is a passionate genealogist involved in growing family trees for clans, here and abroad, and in nurturing family forests as a Philippine curator on Geni.com. She is active on various social media platforms and has gained a following as “Mighty Magulang” where she discusses history and genealogy.

Read for enrichment

Leave a comment