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We remember a working class hero, Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran
We will never forget!
We woke up this morning to some terrible news from the Philippines. Text
and email messages arrived with a few simple but devastating words.
"Ka Bel died today."
Shock. Consternation. Disbelief. A text message from Grace from Bayan Muna
confirmed the sad news. Rep. Crispin Ka Bel Beltran had passed away at
11:48am Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at the FEU hospital in Quezon City,
Philippines due to severe head injuries following an accident at home. He
was 75.
Just a few weeks ago we had spent a wonderful few days with our old friend
and comrade Ka Bel. He had just survived 15 months in prison and we were
so proud and pleased that he had decided to come and visit us in Canada as
part of a Parliamentarian tour with Rep. Satur Ocampo and Rep. Luz Ilagan.
His health had suffered during the time in prison but he was determined to
visit Canada to expose the ongoing political killings in the Philippines
and to renew links with old friends from Vancouver to Montreal.
His warmth, charisma and militancy were more than intact. The tour,
including several top level meetings with Canadian parliamentarians and
officials in Ottawa, was a success and it seems like yesterday that we
hugged each other and parted tired but very happy.
Ka Bel had to return since a new session of the House of Representatives
was to start in the Philippines and he was going to continue the fight for
the rights of the working people he represented as the elected member of
the Philippine Congress and leader of the Anakpawis (Worker and Peasant)
Partylist. This was his third term in Congress, having been re-elected
last year from his prison cell.
We mourn with his family and friends, comrades and colleagues. Yet we
recognize, as the press release from Anakpawis so clearly states, that in
his passing, "he left a distinctive and brilliant legacy of fighting for
the interest of the workers and oppressed peoples." We miss him already,
but vow to continue the struggle he stood up for the last 50 years, the
struggle for justice, true democracy and against reaction and imperialism.
He was a great labour leader, an incorruptible parliamentarian, and a
staunch fighter for national freedom, democracy and international working
class solidarity who touched and inspired many of us, even here thousands
of kilometres from the Philippines.
He had an amazing life. As the Anakpawis news release points out, during
the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, a teenage Ka Bel volunteered
as a courier for the 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 and since
that time never wavered in his support for workers' struggles.
He told many stories of his days as a driver and how he built the
Amalgamated Taxi Drivers Association and together with Felixberto 'Ka
Bert' Olalia and Feliciano Reyes, leaders of the Filipino labor movement's
militant tradition, organized the Confederation of Labor of the
Philippines (CLP). In the darkest period under martial law, Ka Bel helped
establish the Federation of Unions in Rizal and the Philippine Nationalist
Labor Organization (PANALO) until the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU - May First
Movement) was founded in 1980. From 100,000, KMU's membership soared to
500,000 in the 1980s and its members were at the forefront of the movement
to oust the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Ka Bel was arrested and detained in August 1982 but soon escaped and
headed to the countryside to organize workers and peasants. When Ka
Rolando "Lando" Olalia was brutally murdered in 1987, Ka Bel took over the
presidency of KMU. He ran for senator under the banner of Partido ng Bayan
that same year and garnered 1.52 million votes but lost due to massive
election fraud. He remained a leader of the militant union until March
2003.
He also became a National Council Member of multi-sectoral alliance Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN - New Patriotic Alliance) in the mid-80s and
then chairman of the International League for People's Struggles in 2002,
vigorously opposing the invasion of Iraq with the same force he fought
against imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism, at home.
He served as Vice President and one of the three representatives of Bayan
Muna (People First) Partylist to Congress. In 2004, he became the
representative for Anakpawis Partylist as a sectoral representative of
workers, peasants, urban poor and other toiling masses.
His three-term stint in the House of Representatives saw him awarded
Filipino of the Year and Most Outstanding Congressman for four consecutive
years. In 2006 he was inducted into the Congressional Hall of Fame.
Several of us were able to visit Ka Bel in his hospital prison after his
arrest in early 2006. His health had taken a beating but his spirits and
his combativeness remained high during the one and a half years shut off
from the Filipino people. An international campaign to Free Ka Bel
eventually led to his release and the rebellion charges against him were
dropped.
Our deepest condolences and support go out to Ka Bel's wife, Ka Oseng -
the love of his life and a strong companion who defiantly stood up for her
husband during his recent imprisonment - and to his family, friends,
comrades and colleagues. He leaves 11 children, 29 grandchildren and 5
great-grand children, of whom he was very proud.
We tell many stories about his sense of justice, commitment and attachment
to the people, but let us close with one story. Ka Bel visited Canada in
the mid-90s and met a young Filipino in Montreal, who was impressed by
this larger than life figure. Several years later the Montrealer found
himself at a huge May First rally in Manila, listening as Ka Bel gave one
of his fiery speeches from the top of a jeepney. He saw Ka Bel try to
catch his eye on several occasions, but didn't respond, until Ka Bel
climbed down from his perch, made his way through the crowd, and hugged
him. "Good to see you again, Joey," Ka Bel said, words that our friend has
never forgotten to this day.
And we will not forget this working class hero, and through today's tears
we promise to take up his legacy and to struggle until the Philippine
people are finally free and a just and truly democratic country, the
country that he dreamed of and fought so hard for, has been built.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Declaration of the Philippine Solidarity Network Canada
____________________________________________________
Centre d'appui aux Philippines / Centre for Philippine Concerns
25 ans de solidarité / 25 years of solidarity
6420 Victoria Avenue, Suite #9,
Montréal, Québec, Canada
H3W 2S7
Tel: +1 514 342-2111
mailtto:capcpc@web.ca
http://cap-cpc.blogspot.com/
(Member: International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), Justice for
Joma Committee - Canada, Philippine Solidarity Network Canada)
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