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PRESS STATEMENTMay 20, 2008
Working class hero Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran leaves a living legacy
Today, Rep. Crispin B. Beltran, ANAKPAWIS Party list representative onhis
3rd term in Congress, a great labor leader, an
incorruptibleparliamentarian, staunch fighter for national freedom,
democracy andinternational working class solidarity, died at 11:48am at
the FEUhospital in Quezon City due to severe head injuries. He was 75.
We
mourn with his family and friends, comrades and colleagues. Yet, inhis
passing, he left a distinctive and brilliant legacy of fightingfor the
interest of the workers and oppressed peoples. Rep. Beltran isscheduled to
file a bill to remove the e-vat on electric power tolower the rates
affecting his constituents. Rep. Beltran's study ofhis legislative
measures are for the protection of the underprivilegedand other
marginalized sectors.
Crispin Beltran, more endeared to the masses as "Ka Bel", is a
livinglegend and epitome of militancy and progressive lawmaking in
thecountry. He is currently the Chairman of the national political
partyAnakpawis (Toiling Masses) Partylist and is its re-electedRepresentative
in the Philippine Congress.
Having been an activist for over fifty long years, Ka Bel is esteemedby
laborers, peasants, urban poor and other marginalized sectors as atrue
defender of the toiling masses and staunch critic ofprivatization,
deregulation and other destructive policies ofglobalization. Ka Bel also
stands against the United States' war of aggression onIraq and its war on
terror. He also is steadfast in his call forrespect for national
sovereignty and international unity againstforeign intervention.
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, at an early age, KaBel
volunteered as a courier for the guerillas. After the war, heworked as a
farm hand and janitor to support his studies. He thenworked as a gasoline
boy, messenger, bus driver and later on, a taxidriver. At age 20, he
joined his fellow drivers in a strike againstunfair labor practices. The
police attacked their picket line, injuredmany and claimed the lives of
three protesting workers. Since then, KaBel vowed to fight alongside the
working class.
He organized the Amalgamated Taxi Drivers Association, for which heserved
as President from 1955 up to 1963. Together with Felixberto 'KaBert'
Olalia and Feliciano Reyes, leaders of the Filipino labormovement's
militant tradition, he organized the Confederation of Laborof the
Philippines (CLP). He was CLP's Vice-President from 1963 to1972. Ka Bel
also helped found the Philippine Workers Congress andother labor
organizations such as KASAMA and PACMAP, which de factoasserted their
recognition during Martial Law.
Under the repressive martial law, Ka Bel helped establish theFederation of
Unions in Rizal and
the Philippine Nationalist LaborOrganization (PANALO) until KMU was
founded in 1980. From 100,000,KMU's membership soared to 500,000 in the
1980s. The establishment ofKMU united and strengthened the people in its
fight against thefascism of the Marcos dictatorship.
When Marcos launched a crackdown in August 1982, Ka Bel was one ofthose
arrested and detained. In November 1984, he was able to escape,and went
back to organizing workers and peasant s in the countryside.When Ka
Rolando "Lando" Olalia was brutally murdered in 1987, Ka Beltook over the
presidency of KMU. He ran for senator under the bannerof Partido ng Bayan
that same year and garnered 1.52 mi llion votesbut lost due to massive "dagdag
bawas" (ballot and vote switching)scheme of elect ion fraud. He remained a
leader of the militant unionuntil March 2003.
He also became a National Council Member of multi-sectoral allianceBagong
Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) which means New Patriotic Alliance)in 1985 and
also served as its national chairperson from 1993 to 1999.Ka Bel became
the chairman of the International League for People'sStruggles in 2002. He
is also considered as one of the pillars ofinternational working class
solidarity in the era of globalization.
From February 2001 to November 2003, he served as Vice President andone of
the three representatives of Bayan Muna (People First)Partylist to
Congress, where he introduced legislations imbued withhis high sense of
patriotism and advocacy of the rights and welfare ofthe marginalized
sectors.
In 2004, he became the representative for Anakpawis Partylist as asectoral
representative of workers, peasants, urban poor and othertoiling masses.Ka
Bel was cited by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism as the
partylist representative in the 13th Congress with the most number of
bills and resolutions filed, totaling to 130, and with a nearly perfect
attendance beforehis arrest in February 2006.
His three-term stint in the House of Representatives has garnered
himawards such as Filipino of the Year and Most Outstanding Congressmanfor
four consecutive years from 2002 - 2005, and in 2006, was adjudged part of
the Congressional Hal l of Fame - all these and the respect ofthe public
he reaped even as the Arroyo regime continues to persecute him and his
fellow activists.
After
his arrest and year-and-a-half long arbitrary and illegaldetention
initiated by the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, KaBel was proven
innocent of the rebellion charges against him.Persecution, however,
persists through the fabricated inciting tosedition case that the
Metropolitan Court of Quezon City refuses todismiss until now, despite
legal prohibit ions for duly-electedofficials to be charged with crimes
punishable by not more than s ixyears of imprisonment such as inciting to
sedition.
In October 2007, Ka Bel exposed bribery attempts by administrationallies,
particularly by KAMPI member Francis Ver. He was offered P2million in
exchange for his support to the weak impeachment complaintagainst
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Ka Bel is survived by 11 children, 29 grandchildren and 5
great-grandchildren. His remains will be interred at his home, May 20, at
Lot 16,Blk. 30 Francisco, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, and transferred to
theUP Catholic Chapel starting May 21. ###
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