Hommage à / Tribute to Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran

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Hommage à Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran
Héro de la classe ouvrière philippine

à l'Église philippine indépendante
Quand: dimanche le 25 mai, 17h00 à 19h00
Lieu: Église St Paul, 3970 Côte Ste-Catherine (coin Légaré - Métro Côte Ste-Catherine)
Le service sera suivi d'un souper communautaire (pot luck). Soyez prêt à partager vos souvenirs de Ka Bel.


Tribute to Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran
Philippine working class hero who passed away this week
with Father Art Calaycay of the Philippine Independent Church
Sunday, May 25, 5 pm - 7 pm
at the St Paul's Church, 3970 Côte Ste-Catherine (coin Légaré - Métro Côte Ste-Catherine)
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Memorial service followed by community pot-luck dinner to pay Tribute to our friend. Please be ready to share your memories and stories of Ka Bel.

Organisé par les ami-e-s de Ka Bel à Montréal incluant l'Église indépendant philippin, PINAY et le Centre d'appui aux Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC)
Organized by the Friends of Ka Bel in Montreal, including the Philippine Independent Church of Montreal, PINAY and the Centre d'appui aux Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC)

Working class hero Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran leaves a living legacy

PRESS STATEMENT
May 20, 2008

Today, Rep. Crispin B. Beltran, ANAKPAWIS Party list representative on his 3rd term in Congress, a great labor leader, an incorruptible parliamentarian, staunch fighter for national freedom, democracy and international working class solidarity, died at 11:48am at the FEU hospital in Quezon City due to severe head injuries. He was 75.

We mourn with his family and friends, comrades and colleagues. Yet, in his passing, he left a distinctive and brilliant legacy of fighting for the interest of the workers and oppressed peoples. Rep. Beltran is scheduled to file a bill to remove the e-vat on electric power to lower the rates affecting his constituents. Rep. Beltran's study of his legislative measures are for the protection of the underprivileged and other marginalized sectors.

Crispin Beltran, more endeared to the masses as "Ka Bel", is a living legend and epitome of militancy and progressive lawmaking in the country. He is currently the Chairman of the national political party Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Partylist and is its re-elected Representative in the Philippine Congress.

Having been an activist for over fifty long years, Ka Bel is esteemed by laborers, peasants, urban poor and other marginalized sectors as a true defender of the toiling masses and staunch critic of privatization, deregulation and other destructive policies of globalization.

Ka Bel also stands against the United States' war of aggression on Iraq and its war on terror. He also is steadfast in his call for respect for national sovereignty and international unity against foreign intervention.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, at an early age, 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. The police attacked their picket line, injured many and claimed the lives of three protesting workers. Since then, Ka Bel vowed to fight alongside the working class.

He organized the Amalgamated Taxi Drivers Association, for which he served as President from 1955 up to 1963. Together with Felixberto 'Ka Bert' Olalia and Feliciano Reyes, leaders of the Filipino labor movement's militant tradition, he organized the Confederation of Labor of the Philippines (CLP). He was CLP's Vice-President from 1963 to 1972. Ka Bel also helped found the Philippine Workers Congress and other labor organizations such as KASAMA and PACMAP, which de facto asserted their recognition during Martial Law.

Under the repressive martial law, Ka Bel helped establish the Federation of Unions in Rizal and the Philippine Nationalist Labor Organization (PANALO) until KMU was founded in 1980. From 100,000, KMU's membership soared to 500,000 in the 1980s. The establishment of KMU united and strengthened the people in its fight against the fascism of the Marcos dictatorship.

When Marcos launched a crackdown in August 1982, Ka Bel was one of those 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 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 "dagdag bawas" (ballot and vote switching) scheme of 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) 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's Struggles in 2002. He is also considered as one of the pillars of international working class solidarity in the era of globalization.

From February 2001 to November 2003, he served as Vice President and one of the three representatives of Bayan Muna (People First) Partylist to Congress, where he introduced legislations imbued with his high sense of patriotism and advocacy of the rights and welfare of the marginalized sectors.

In 2004, he became the representative for Anakpawis Partylist as a sectoral representative of workers, peasants, urban poor and other toiling 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 before his arrest in February 2006.

His three-term stint in the House of Representatives has garnered him awards such as Filipino of the Year and Most Outstanding Congressman for four consecutive years from 2002 - 2005, and in 2006, was adjudged part of the Congressional Hal l of Fame - all these and the respect of the 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 illegal detention initiated by the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration, Ka Bel was proven innocent of the rebellion charges against him. Persecution, however, persists through the fabricated inciting to sedition case that the Metropolitan Court of Quezon City refuses to dismiss until now, despite legal prohibit ions for duly-elected officials to be charged with crimes punishable by not more than six years of imprisonment such as inciting to sedition.

In October 2007, Ka Bel exposed bribery attempts by administration allies, particularly by KAMPI member Francis Ver. He was offered P2million in exchange for his support to the weak impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Ka Bel is survived by 11 children, 29 grandchildren and 5 great-grand children. His remains will be interred at his home, May 20, at Lot 16, Blk. 30 Francisco, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, and transferred to the UP Catholic Chapel starting May 21.

--
From the Office of Rep. Crispin B. Beltran
National Headquarters +63 2 426-9442 Email. crispinbeltran@gmail.com
Reference: Rep.Crispin Beltran 0927.8711080
Chief of Staff, Lu Roque, +63 2 931-6615
International Liaison Officer, Lyn Pano, +63 919 410-1598

Droits humains aux Philippines et l'implication canadienne

Soirée d'information le 16 mai 2008 en trois volets :

1. Philippines: une guerre contre le peuple
Vidéo-discussion avec les cinéastes Malcolm Guy et Marie Boti qui lanceront leur nouveau film, Philippines : une guerre contre le peuple sur la campagne internationale contre les assassinats politiques aux Philippines **

2. Qu'en est-il de l'implication canadienne aux Philippines?
Présentation des conclusions d'un rapport de recherche sur la présence canadienne aux Philippines par Jean-Philippe Massicotte, Chercheur-stagiaire, Chaire d'études asiatiques

3. Présentation de la tournée de sensibilisation par trois parlementaires progressistes philippins au Canada
Mise à jour de la campagne internationale « Cesser les assassinats politiques aux Philippines »


Vendredi, le 16 mai 2008
18:30 - 21:00
Université de Montréal, Salle 180
Pavillon Jean Brillant
3744 Jean Brillant
Métro Côte-des-neiges
Montréal, Québec

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** Philippines: une guerre contre le peuple des cinéastes montréalais Marie Boti et Malcolm Guy suit l'histoire de Dr. Chandu Claver, qui survit à une embuscade ou sa femme est abattue. Alyce Claver est parmi les 900 civils, étudiants, travailleurs, paysans, et même un évèsque qui sont tombés sous les balles d'assassins depuis que la Présidente Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a pris le pouvoir en 2001. L'implication des forces armées et des policiers ne fait aucune doute, mais un climat d'impunité totale règne dans le pays. C'est une "guerre au terrorisme" à la philippine. Les groupes communautaires et progressistes ont beau protester et manifester, le gouvernement jouit toujours du soutien des grandes puissances, et particulièrement du gouvernement étatsunien de George W. Bush.

Philippines: Une guerre contre le peuple nos amène dans les coulisses de la campagne internationale pour faire cesser les assassinats politiques aux Philippines. c2008 Productions Multi-Monde et Centre d'appui aux Philippines Procurez votre copie ici.

Fighting Back: Art and Social Change - Paintings by Eileen Young

Centre for Philippine Concerns member Eileen Young will be presenting her amazing paintings from May 8 to June 1, 2008 at the Centre Culturel Simon Bolivar in Montréal as part of this year's Mayworks Festival.





Fighting Back: Art and Social Change
Paintings by Eileen Young
Centre Culturel Simon Bolivar
394 de Maisonneuve W.
For information: +1 514 843-8033

Show on from Thursday, May 8 to June 1, 2008

Vernissage: Thursday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Metro Place des Arts, take Bleury exit, west of Bleury on south side.

Cordillera Peoples Alliance

Statement of Support from the Cordillera Peoples Alliance
to the Mohawk Nation

April 29, 2008 -- The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) condemns the violence perpetrated by the Ontario Provincial Government and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) against the Mohawk Nation in Tyendinaga at the Deseronto Boundary Road. The Mohawk Nation was opposing the encroachment of the Nibourgh Developments in their territory. Nibourgh is a private real estate developer in Canada. It carried out its project without the free, prior informed consent, and worse, the knowledge of the Mohawk Nation. The project would forcibly evict the Mohawks from their own territory.

In the course of the said peaceful protest, the OPP unlawfully arrested at least five (5) Mohawk activists whose detention remains unknown. The said protest started on April 20 and continues to date. Despite the violence and the unlawful arrests, the Mohawk remains to stand their ground. They shall continue to assert their rights and defend their territory and life. The OPP responded with threats stating: “We’re coming in at dark to take you out!”

These developments are very alarming and signify the oppression and utter disregard of the Ontario provincial government on the rights of the Mohawk Nation to their territory and life. As fellow indigenous and oppressed peoples, the CPA stands firmly in solidarity with the Mohawk Nation. We shall stand the ground with our Mohawk brothers and sisters (Mohawk). The attack on the Mohawk people is an attack to the Cordillera peoples and indigenous peoples of the world. We call on all indigenous peoples, advocates and concerned organizations to support the legitimate struggle of the Mohawk people for their collective rights to their territory and self determination.

In solidarity with the Mohawk Nation, we call on the Ontario provincial government and the Canadian government to respect the rights of the Mohawk Nation to their territory and their right to self-determination. Stop the attacks against the Mohawk Nation! Uphold and respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples!

We further call on the said governments to surface the Mohawk activists arrested. We hold them accountable for any harm to their persons, to others who have been physically maltreated by the OPP and other Canadian State elements. We also hold the said government responsible for any harm to the safety and security of the Mohawks in the said territory.

BEVERLY L. LONGID
Chairperson
CORDILLERA PEOPLES ALLIANCE
#2 P. Guevarra Street,
WestModern Site, Aurora Hill, 2600
Baguio City,
Philippines
Telephone: +63.74.442.2115
Facsimile: +63.74.443.7159
Email: cpa@cpaphils.org; sakongan@gmail.com

Web site: www.cpaphils.org

Open Letter to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of Canada

Monday, April 21, 2008 -- We, the undersigned Canadian-based organizations and individuals, strongly condemn the harassment by armed men of Rep. Satur Ocampo on his return from a Human Rights Mission to Canada. We also condemn the threat of his imminent arrest. We are seriously concerned for his safety and that of the other members of the Mission, Rep. Crispin Beltran and Rep. Luz Ilagan.

According to Philippine newspaper reports, unidentified armed men on motorcycles believed to be police officers were seen staking out Ocampo's residence in Quezon City, early Sunday, April 20. A Honda SUV and a Toyota AUV parked a few metres from his house left when members of the media arrived around 10:30 am.

We view the timing of these events as punishment by the Philippine government for Rep. Ocampo’s courageous and principled stand against the ongoing human rights abuses in the Philippines -- particularly the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances -- that he and the two other elected legislators aired before the Canadian Parliament and the Canadian media.

Rep. Ocampo, President of the Bayan Muna Party and the Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, along with Rep. Beltran of Anakpawis and Rep. Ilagan from the Gabriela Women's Party, were in Canada at the invitation of the Stop the Killings Network and the United Church of Canada for a national tour from April 4 -18, 2008.

The three members of the Philippine Congress informed the Canadian public, media and members of Parliament at the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights that more than 900 extrajudicial killings and 180 enforced disappearances have occurred under the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. They revealed that they themselves have been subjected to harassment, arrests and intimidation; 132 members of Rep. Ocampo's party have been assassinated since 2001, along with 49 members of Anakpawis and members of Gabriela.

Members of the Subcommittee who heard their testimonies expressed deep concern, saying that Canada must speak out and condemn the political killings. They acknowledged the grave risk the Philippine legislators have taken in standing up for their country.

The Philippine government appears to be again dredging up murder charges against Mr. Ocampo along with fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Liza Maza and former Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano. Prosecutors in Neuva Ecija province filed the charges on Friday, April 18, this time for the alleged killing of three rebel returnees between 2001 and 2004.

It is to be noted that Casiño also just returned from Geneva, Switzerland where he made front page news exposing the human rights abuses in the Philippines during that country’s appearance before the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on human rights last April 11, 2008.

This is not the first time the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the arrest of Mr. Ocampo and the other progressive Party list legislators in order to silence them. Each time the charges have been thrown out of court.

On February 2007, Mr. Ocampo was arrested and detained for 18 days during an ongoing election campaign on charges of murders he allegedly committed in 1984. At that time he was in prison under the Marcos dictatorship. The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Rebellion charges were also dismissed in 2006 against Reps. Ocampo, Casiño, Beltran and Mariano, along with Rep. Maza of Gabriela. They spent two months under the protective custody of the Philippine Congress to prevent their arrest. However, Rep. Crispin Beltran, 75, was nabbed and spent 15 months in prison where he suffered heart problems before the charges were dropped.

UN Rapporteur Philip Alston rejected the charges of the Philippine government that the ongoing political killings and abductions are the results of internal purges within the Philippine left and underground New Peoples Army, and instead implicated the Philippine military and police forces.

We demand that the Philippine government immediately stop the harassment and drop all trumped-up charges against Reps. Ocampo, Beltran, Ilagan, Casiño and the other elected representatives of these Party list organizations.

We urge that the Canadian government demand an immediate end to the intimidation and harassment of Rep. Ocampo and ensure his safety along with that of Rep. Beltran and Rep. Ilagan. The three were recent guests of the Canadian people. We call on the Canadian government to take a strong stand against the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines and withhold bilateral assistance to the Arroyo government until Ottawa has proof that suitable measures have been taken.

-- Drop all trumped-up charges against Rep. Satur Ocampo and the other elected party list legislators;
-- Stop the harassment and intimidation of Rep. Satur Ocampo and the other elected party list legislators;
-- Stop the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines and bring those responsible to justice.

Signed by:

Basics Community Newspaper
Bayan Organizing Committee, Toronto
B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Canadian Advocacy Group for Philippines (CAGP)
Centre d’appui aux Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns (Montreal)
Centre for Research on Globalization (CRM), Montreal
Coalition for the Protection of Caregivers' Rights
Centre for Women's Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Community Alliance for Social Justice, Toronto
Connie Sorio, KAIROS, Asia Pacific
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)- National
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)local 4600
Damayan Manitoba
Denis Lemelin, National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Development and Peace
Dominique Caouette, Political Science Dept., University of Montreal
Francine Lalonde, MP, Bloc Québécois
Friends of Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Luz Ilagan of Vancouver
Global and Societal Ministries, BC Conference, UCC
Jean-Philippe Massicotte, University of Montreal
Joan Agravante-Mititar
Johanne Deschamps, MP, Bloc Québecois
Lois Wilson, Senator (ret.)
Migrante-Ontario (AWARE Filipino Family Services, Damayan Education and Resource Centre, Filipino Migrant Workers' Movement)
Migrante Youth Collective
MiningWatch Canada
Northstar Compass
National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) - National
Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Pacific People's Partnership
PATAC (Philippine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture)
Philippine - Québec Public Forum, Montreal
Philippine Network for Justice and Peace
PINAY Montreal
Primates World Relief and Development Fund
Ricardo Caluen (member of Philippine Press Club of Ontario)
United Church of Canada
Victoria Group
Vivian Barbot, MP, Bloc Québécois

(version 8)

Montreal welcomes Rep. Satur Ocampo, Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran and Rep. Luz Ilagan

Media advisory April 5, 2008 -- Three members of the Philippine Congress will be visiting Montreal April 11 and 12, 2008 as part of a cross-Canada tour (April 4-18). They will be lobbying Canadian parliamentarians in Ottawa and other groups to pressure the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to end human rights violations and government corruption in the Philippines.

Allegations of corruption and electoral fraud plague the Arroyo administration, and demand for her to step down are intensifying in the Philippines. Recent massive street protests have been compared to the 1986 People Power movement that ousted Ferdinand Marcos 22 years ago.

Some Philippine human rights groups have also claimed that Arroyo’s record of human rights violations surpasses that of Marcos, with more than 800 politically motivated extra-judicial killings since 2001. The U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston has attributed these killings to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its counterinsurgency program.

The three congresspeople are:

o Rep. Satur Ocampo: President of Bayan Muna Party, Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a former journalist and was the longest-held political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship.

o Rep. Crispin Beltran: Anakpawis Party List Representative, Vice-Chair of the House Special Committee on Overseas Workers’ Affairs and Member of the House Committees on Labour and Human Rights. He was arrested and detained from 2005 to late 2007 on charges of rebellion and murder, which were dismissed by the Supreme Court. He is the former chair of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, a progressive labour centre in the Philippines.

o Rep. Luz Ilagan: Gabriela Women’s Party Representative, member of the House Committees on Women, Mindanao Affairs, Overseas Welfare Affairs and Cultural Minorities. She was a faculty member of the Humanities Division of the Ateneo De Davao University. She is among the pioneer of the Women’s Rights Movement in Mindanao.

For more information on their visit to Canada and on the current situation in the Philippines or to arrange interviews, e-mail Malcolm Guy -- mguy[at]pmm.qc.ca

-- Philippine Legislators' Welcoming Committee, 4708 Van Horne Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada