| |
Dear Comrades, Friends and Family of Ka Bel,
It is a good fortune for many of us in the Taiwanese social movements to
have met courageous Philippine fighters like Ka Bel in the past years. But
we are not as fortunate as our Philippine comrades who have worked with
him, day in and day out, for years and decades. Even so, our sporadic
encounters with him have always left deep, indelible impressions.
I personally met Ka Bel in 1999 with a Taiwanese youth group on our
exposure. He was the chairman of KMU at that time. Even though we are not
some big-shot honored guest, Ka Bel took the time and came to where we
stay to give us an introduction of the situation of Philippine labor
movement.
In appearance, Ka Bel surely looked like a respectable elder. Befitting
his sage-like demeanor, his analysis and his answers to our questions were
sharp, succinct, and always to the point. But like all Philippine
activists we have met, he told hilarious jokes that were difficult for me
to translate, and one can quickly feel the warm friendliness glowing
around him. The age gap dissolved in no time.
The most unforgettable thing is this: When the time approached 4 pm. The
voluble Ka Bel abruptly ended our exciting conversation, and apologized
that he had to leave, because it was his turn that day to hand out
leaflets to employees of a certain Shoemart store during the change of
shifts. So away he went.
“So old comrades like Ka Bel also do things like leafleting?” we asked our
host, with huge surprise.
“Sure,” she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
“But he is the chairman. People of his position in our country don’t do
this kind of rookie’s job.”
“It’s the decision of KMU that every leader be given tasks in grassroots
organizing work so that they keep in touch with situation on the ground.”
“So he also does house calls, education sessions, and things like that?”
“Sure,” she said, as if there was nothing special about this.
For me, that was the moment that the whole strength of the Philippine
movement was expressed in a tiny act. Recalling this, I have the feeling
that Ka Bel must have left us with peace and confidence at heart, for as
great as Ka Bel was as a fighter, there are hundreds, thousands of Ka Bels,
and eventually there will be millions of Ka Bels in the Philippines, and
hopefully in all corners of the world, too.
So while we bid farewell to Ka Bel and honor his marvelous deeds, we, here
in Taiwan, will strive to do the same thing you do in the Philippines,
that is, keeping Ka Bel’s fighting spirit alive and growing.
In solidarity,
Hsin-Hsing Chen
Taiwan Committee for Philippine Concerns
|
|
