U.S. says money from the book on Sison will go to support terrorism in the Philippines.

Jose Maria Sison

The book Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World, Portrait of a Revolutionary, Conversations with Ninotchka Rosca, made its Vancouver debut at the Russian Hall in Burnaby last weekend.

The book is on the life of exiled Filipino revolutionary Jose Maria Sison, who has been declared a terrorist by Canada, the European Union and the United States.

Sison's Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People's Army (NPA) have also had their assets frozen.

The Canadian government on Aug. 29, 2002 issued a prohibition on fund-raising activities or mobilisation of support for Sison, the CPP and the NPA.

The Asian Pacific Post reported last month that the office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department had frozen Sison's advance royalty for the book from the American publisher, Open Hand Publishing.

In a Press statement last week, Erie Maestro of the BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP), said: "At Home in the World could potentially be a challenged book because it raises the issue of the Philippine national liberation movement,"

"Jose Maria Sison represents the Philippine revolution," said Maestro, condemning the terror tag.

"He has devoted his entire life to denouncing US Imperialism and organizing the Filipino people for national liberation. He poses a threat to US Foreign Policy in the Philippines."

The book is co-authored by Ninotchka Rosca, a former political prisoner under the Marcos Dictatorship and a close confidante of Sison.

"This royalty payment has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism. It is paid in accordance with a pre-2002 contract which is perfectly legal," Sison said in a statement from Holland.

"I am unlawfully deprived of what belongs to me."

Sison, 64, has strong support from Filipino migrant worker groups based in Vancouver and Toronto.

Sison, who founded the CPP in the early 1970s, fled to Europe after the collapse of peace talks in 1987.

The Dutch internal service has been watching Sison since 1992 and alleges he is still the leader of rebel forces responsible for hundreds of deaths in the Philippines every year, according to news reports in Manila.

B.C.-based Filipino-Canadian groups have condemned the move to blacklist Sison in Canada describing it as a "U.S.-led witch-hunt to suppress legitimate political activities and dissent in the Philippines.

They have also held rallies outside the Dutch consulate on Howe Street in Vancouver. Meanwhile, The Philippine government said this month it won't step in to have the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) taken off the terrorist watch list of the United States, Canada and European countries.

Towns march and pray for peace

An estimated 10,000 residents of Infanta and General Nakar towns in Quezon prayed for peace and marched under the scorching heat of the sun recently as they appealed to the New People's Army and government soldiers to stop a reign of terror brought on by the spate of at least five insurgency-related killings in the past two weeks.

"We declare our towns as zones of peace, freedom and development," said Infanta Mayor Grace America.

Some 8,000 residents of Infanta held a march around the town center. Around the same time in neighboring General Nakar, at least 2,000 residents assembled in the town's covered basketball court.

Last month, Gerry Romantico, 37, and Rosalina Velasco, 63, both of General Nakar, were shot dead allegedly by members of the NPA hit squad.

After the murder of retired Army M/Sgt. Ferdinand Capuyan on Sept. 5 in Infanta, at least two members of leftist activist groups were also killed. Meliton Tena, a Bayan Muna coordinator, was gunned down on Sept.

Two days later, Antonio Falcon, a member of a progressive cultural group in Southern Tagalog, was shot by unidentified gunmen.