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TRIBUTE TO KA BEL, THE PEOPLE’S CONGRESSMAN
From the Vancouver Committee in Support of the Parliamentarians’ Tour of
Canada
We were the last to see Crispin Beltran in Canada. It was at the Vancouver
International Airport where Ka Bel, together with his fellow members from
Congress, Representatives Satur Ocampo and Luz Ilagan, made a stopover on
their way home to the Philippines last April. They were happy to be going
home after a successful Philippine Parliamentarians’ Tour of Canada in
which they were able to present the worsening Philippine human rights
situation before the Canadian lawmakers.
On behalf of the Vancouver Committee, we came here to say our farewell to
him and to offer our condolences to his wife and best friend, Ka Osang,
his family and friends.
Ka Bel was in high spirits and as always, he had a smile on his face. Our
nurse who took care of Ka Bel’s medical needs during the Vancouver leg of
the tour was also there to do the last minute check on his blood pressure,
administer his injection and to inquire about his general physical
situation. As always, farewells were long and staggered, embraces were
tight and promises were made to keep in touch, to continue the fight and
always to take care. “Ingat kayo!” was said to each other amidst waves of
farewell.
So it was with disbelief that we learned about the accident and his death.
And while we grieve at what we have lost, we take comfort from the
memories and conversations we had with Ka Bel from that April tour. We in
the Vancouver Committee and our families and friends are privileged to
have been part of the Solons’ Tour and to have supported Ka Bel and the
campaign that he (and Ka Satur and Ka Luz) was bringing to the attention
of Canadian lawmakers and the Filipino communities in Canada.
Ka Bel was of the working class and remained steadfast to serving the
workers, peasants, urban poor, the overseas workers and other marginalized
sectors of Philippine society. For he was one of them: he had worked as a
janitor, a gasoline boy, a messenger, a bus driver, and a taxi driver
until he became a unionist and labour organizer and leader. He became a
political prisoner in 1982 under the Marcos government until his self
release in 1984. He surfaced from the underground in 1987 to lead the
Kilusang Mayo Uno or KMU (May First Labour Centre) after the brutal
killing of KMU’s chair Ka Rolando Olalia.
Ka Bel took his place in Congress in 2001 as the elected Representative
under the militant party list Bayan Muna (People First) and later under
the AnakPawis (Toiling Masses) party list in 2004. Ka Bel, who never left
the Parliament of the Streets, knew very well that “only so much can be
done within the halls of Philippine Congress, as it is an institution
where for the most part, tradition of patronage, political dynasty and
subservience is strong.”
But he was our People’s Congressman and he overcame these constraints as
he pushed the people’s agenda in Congress. From his work, his commitment,
his life, he defined what it meant to be a progressive and militant
lawmaker. It meant putting Philippine national sovereignty over that of
foreign and big business interests. It meant fighting for and defending
the interests of the masses. It meant using the halls of Philippine
Congress to speak out against state terrorism, human rights violations,
injustice and corruption. It meant taking the ire of the Arroyo government
and its agents and being detained again in 2006 until the Supreme Court
threw out the charges against him more than a year later.
Congressman Ka Bel showed us that electoral politics must not be the
monopoly of the reactionaries and the traditional politicians (or the “trapos”)
from the landed and ruling elite. Congressman Ka Bel demonstrated that
electoral struggle contributes to the struggle for national freedom and
democracy.
In the politics of remembering, Ka Bel will always live. And here, in the
hearts of the people, his memorial will be built. Paalam, Ka Bel.
Farewell, beloved Ka Bel.
Hindi kayo mamamatay,
Hindi kayo malilimot,
Sa puso ng sambayanan,
Itatayo ang inyong bantayog.
The Vancouver Committee in Support of the Parliamentarians’ Tour of Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
May 22, 2008
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