Dear Rosario, dear children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Crispin Beltran,

Dear friends, dear kasama of Anakpawis, of KMU, of the whole workers’ and peoples’ movement of the Philippines,

We couldn’t believe it to be true when the sad news has reached us this morning that our dear friend and comrade, Ka Bel, had passed away. We’ve immediately called each other and we’ve organised a vigil tonight, to commemorate Ka Bel and to give him our greatest tribute. Not everyone of our solidarity group was able to attend the vigil, but each of them wanted to communicate you that they do join you in your grief and remembrance.

We formed a circle around the picture of Ka Bel and we lit candles to show our great respect for his lifelong commitment to the poor, the peasants and the workers. We read the press statement to remind the different stages in his life. And we shared our memories of the moments we met Ka Bel. Each of us has a warm impression of him. We remember his humour and mild irony. We still hear the passion in his voice when he explained to us, in his office in Congress, the whole pile of files: “concrete needs of the people” he called them. It was clear to us that he lived very close to the workers, to the poor. He was one of them. What we also learned from him is how to build broad alliances in order to achieve your goals, such as nationwide wage increase. Those among us who met Ka Bel in the hospital, when he was detained, were very much touched by his strength and optimism and by his active attention for each of his visitors.

We wish you a lot of strength and mutual support and we hope that the love of Ka Bel will warm your heart forever.

Dear Ka Bel, you died of a fatal cardiac arrest after the tragic accident, but your hart will continue to beat in the pulsing rhythm of the people’s struggle, in the warmth of comradeship and international solidarity. The physicians declared you ‘brain dead’, but your wit and acuteness will continue to guide us in our analysis of the destructive powers of privatization and deregulation. The bad fall silenced you, but your voice will continue to be recognised by the poor and the oppressed as a sign of hope for a better future. Like in a relay race, other comrades will take over your words as a baton of commitment. They will speak out against bribery and pillaging of the poor. Dear Ka Bel, Marcos and Gloria didn’t manage to imprison your dream of justice. We pay tribute to you and we promise you that we will stick to your dream and that we will encourage each other to make it come true. We are sure that you will tell us, as did Joe Hill: “Don’t mourn. Organize!” But tonight, we feel we should take the time to mourn, together with your family, your friends and comrades. Tomorrow, we will again start to organize, and we will badly miss you, dear comrade.

Solidarity group of the Christian workers movement from Belgium

You’ll find our names on the annexed scanned sheet.

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