BY BULATLAT
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/BREAKING NEWS
June 1, 2007 – 5:07 p.m.
House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna President Satur Ocampo said that the Supreme Court decision dismissing the rebellion case against the Batasan 6 should pave the way for the release of Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran.
The high court’s decision is “a slap on the faces of President Arroyo and her two repressive agencies — the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) led by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales — who have all conspired to demonize and persecute us because of our roles in the legal opposition and the mass movement” said Ocampo.
“We are vindicated. This is a triumph of truth and justice over the Arroyo government’s invented and unfair charge against duly-elected people’s representatives,” he said.
Ocampo said that the administration failed in its attempt to “crush the progressive party-list bloc in Congress.” The Batasan 6 is composed of representatives Beltran, Ocampo, Liza Masa, Rafael Mariano, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador. As of press time, Beltran remains under a hospital arrest at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC). He was originally detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNP GH) inside Camp Crame.
“They miserably failed. We still won in the elections and at the Supreme Court,” he said, noting that the high court’s ruling affirms their position that the charges against them are “all fabricated, based only on perjured testimonies, full of legal shortcuts and obviously politically-motivated.”
Meanwhile, Beltran wishes that the dismissal of the rebellion charges will also be the end of the attacks against the progressive lawmakers. The 74-year old lawmaker and labor union veteran also hopes that the decision will not be opposed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other forces who allegedly continue to “discredit, criminalize and demonize” them.
For Elmer Labog, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center chairperson, “the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed the innocence of Ka Bel and that he must be freed right now.”
Workers and supporters of Beltran will troop to the PHC 6 p.m. of June 1 to demand the speedy release of detained legislator.
Beltran has been incarcerated for the last 15 months on the charges that he plotted with renegade elements of the military to remove President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from power.(Bulatlat.com)
