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KASAMMAKO
(Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea)
Alliance of Filipino Migrant Workers' Associations in Korea
www.kasammako.prophp.org
A Tribute to Ka Bel,
An Unwavering Hero of the Working Class
We mourn the death of Ka Crispen Bletran, an unwavering hero of the
working class not just in the Philippines but in many nations. The
thousands of Filipino migrant workers belonging to Katipunan ng mga
Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (KASAMMAKO) remembers Ka Bel’s powerful
challenge to organize and fight for their rights during its founding
assembly in 1998 when he delivered a solidarity message and during its 8th
anniversary celebration in Seoul. Ka Bel’s life is a dedication and
commitment to the labour movement and to the plight of the poor and the
working class.
Even though he was persecuted by the Philippine government and the ruling
class, his undaunted commitment to the radical social transformation makes
him a hero of the working class. Crispin 'Ka Bel' Beltran leaves a living
legacy to us. The support of labour movement and all those who are in the
struggle for change in the Philippine society has elected him as ANAKPAWIS
Party list representative and was able to serve a 3rd term in Congress. He
is a great labor leader, an incorruptible parliamentarian, staunch fighter
for national freedom, democracy and international working class
solidarity.
Crispin Beltran is a living legend and example of militancy and
progressive lawmaking in the country. He served as the Chairman of the
national political party Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Partylist and was
re-elected Representative in the Philippine Congress. Having been an
activist for over fifty long years, Ka Bel is esteemed by laborers,
peasants, urban poor and other marginalized sectors as a true defender of
the toiling masses and staunch critic of privatization, deregulation and
other destructive policies of globalization. Ka Bel together with national
democrats and anti-imperialists stood against the United States' war of
aggression on Iraq and its war on terror. He also is steadfast in his call
for respect for national sovereignty and international unity against
foreign intervention.
As a young person during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines,
filled with nationalist fervor Ka Bel volunteered as a courier for the
Filipino guerillas. After the war, he worked as a farm hand and janitor to
support his studies. He then worked as a gasoline boy, messenger, bus
driver and later on, a taxi driver. At age 20, he joined his fellow
drivers in a strike against unfair labor practices. The police attacked
their picket line, injured many and claimed the lives of three protesting
workers. Since then, Ka Bel vowed to fight alongside the working class.
His enduring commitment for the plight of the workers and putting his
knowledge in labor movement into practice he organized the Amalgamated
Taxi Drivers Association, for which he served as President from 1955 up to
1963. As contemporary labour leader he, Felixberto 'Ka Bert' Olalia and
Feliciano Reyes, leaders of the Filipino labor movement organized the
Confederation of Labor of the Philippines (CLP). He was CLP's
Vice-President from 1963 to 1972. Ka Bel also helped established the
Philippine Workers Congress and other labor organizations such as KASAMA
and PACMAP, which de facto asserted their recognition during Martial Law.
During the repressive martial law years, Ka Bel helped establish the
Federation of Unions in Rizal and the Philippine Nationalist Labor
Organization (PANALO) until KMU was founded in 1980. From 100,000, KMU's
membership soared to 500,000 in the 1980s. The establishment of KMU united
and strengthened the people in its fight against the fascism of the Marcos
dictatorship. With the increasing strength of the labour movement even in
the regimes that follow, his political stance led to his arbitrary and
illegal arrest for year-and-a-half, a detention initiated by the Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo administration, Ka Bel was proven innocent of the
rebellion charges against him.
Persecution, however, persists through trump-up cases of to sedition that
the Metropolitan Court of Quezon City refuses to dismiss until now,
despite legal prohibit ions for duly-elected officials to be charged with
crimes punishable by not more than six years of imprisonment. Recently, Ka
Bel exposed bribery attempts by the Arroyo government and her allies,
particularly by KAMPI member Francis Ver. He was offered P2 million in
exchange for his support to the weak impeachment complaint against
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He steadfastly refused to consign to
the whims and greed of the present regime.
We, members, leaders and friends of KASAMMAKO mourn with Ka Bel’s family
and friends, comrades and colleagues. But his distinctive and brilliant
legacy of fighting for the interest of the workers and oppressed peoples
is ours to continue and live up to. Maraming salamat Ka Bel sa pag-alay ng
buhay mo para sa samabayanan.
25 May 2008
KASAMMAKO
Seoul, South Korea
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