Labor United in Calling for Beltran’s
Release
For the first time,
labor centers Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement),
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM or Workers’ Party) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang
Pilipino (BMP or Unity of Filipino Workers) and other workers groups are
united. They are one in calling for the immediate release of Anakpawis
(Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran.
BY
MAUREEN HERMITANIO
Contributed to Bulatlat
Labor centers Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU
or May 1st Movement), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM or Workers’
Party) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP or Unity of Filipino
Workers) and other workers groups are united in calling for the release of
Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran.
FOR WAGE HIKE:
Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran in a Feb. 16 rally for one of his
long-standing advocacies, the P125 across-the board, nationwide wage
increase
BULATLAT FILE PHOTO |
They gathered during the Labor and
Parliamentarians Media Forum held at the House of Representatives last
March 16. Labor leaders and legislators condemning Beltran’s illegal
arrest and detention presented their views and plans of action to assert
the demand for the solon’s release.
Beltran needed in Congress
In the forum, Congressional Oversight
Committee on Labor and Employment (COCLE) Chair Rep. Roseller Barinaga
admitted that his committee is having a hard time deliberating
labor-related bills due to the continued detention of Beltran.
“Mahihirapan kami ’pag wala si Ka Bel,” (We will have a hard time
without Ka Bel.) he said, “We need his important ideas. We
are very interested for his release or transfer so we can proceed with the
discussion of the P125 wage bill,” he said.
|
The solon said the COCLE is set to discuss
amendments to House Bill 345 or the P125 wage hike bill next week and they
need Beltran to impart his ideas and suggestions for the benefit of
workers.
KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog said that with
Beltran's enduring illegal detention, the Macapagal-Arroyo government
consciously delays government projects and bills that will benefit workers
and the people. "Ka Bel's valuable contribution to the advancement of
workers' interests is highly-respected and recognized by his colleagues in
Congress.”
PNP insists Beltran’s detention
Last March 13, Quezon City
Metropolitan Trial Court Judge Evangeline Castillo issued a release order
for Beltran on the basis of parliamentary immunity provided under Article
6, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution.
Despite the order, Philippine National
Police (PNP) officials vehemently refused to release Beltran citing, as
basis, the rebellion case filed against him at the Makati Regional Trial
Court.
But workers immediately condemned
Beltran’s captors. “While the government insists on detaining Beltran and
the Batasan 5, progressive groups are even more determined to fight
Malacańang's campaign of suppression directed against critics of the
Arroyo administration.”
“We are not afraid of the brazen
attacks directed by the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration against the
country’s most militant and progressive labor center. We survived Marcos
and his Martial Law. We will definitely survive Arroyo’s despotic
leadership,” Labog said.
He further asserted that the rebellion
case filed by the Marcos administration against Beltran was dismissed in
1988 when the latter was still KMU Chairman. Labog also said that the
PNP’s accusation linking Beltran to Magdalo soldiers was unfounded.
“The government is conveniently using
purported cases to suppress Ka Bel, Anakpawis and KMU. Then and now, Ka
Bel is not guilty of anything,” he said. “He just stood by his political
beliefs and advocated for the interests and welfare of Filipino workers
and the toiling masses.”
Labor counsel for KMU, Remigio
Saladero of the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE), said the
government is using the trump up rebellion charges against Beltran to
prolong his illegal detention at Camp Crame. He said Beltran’s lead
counsel Romeo Capulong will present Beltran’s diary entries, passport and
other evidences to prove that the allegations against the solon are all
fabricated and baseless.
Free Ka Bel Movement gaining
worldwide support
All sectors supporting Beltran are
united under the Free Ka Bel Movement (FKBM). Formed last March 6,
convenors of the network include former Vice President Teofisto Guingona,
Representatives Rene Magtubo, Barinaga and Edcel Lagman, Senator Jamby
Madrigal, Labog, former Labor Minister Amado Gat Inciong, University of
the Philippines Faculty Regent Prof. Roland Simbulan and Anakpawis
Secretary General Cherry Clemente.
Guingona expressed full and vigorous
support for Beltran’s release and criticized the Macapagal-Arroyo
government’s attack on civil liberties.
FKBM initiated series of activities to
highlight the popular clamor for Beltran’s freedom. They are launching
petition signing in factories, communities and offices as well as noise
barrage, candle lighting activities, symposia and other actions.
As actions seeking for Beltran’s release
intensify in the domestic front, international groups, individuals and
politicians continue to press the Macapagal-Arroyo government to release
Beltran.
Around 250
cause-oriented groups, labor unions, human rights groups, socialist
parties and thousands of signatories from
Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Taiwan,
South Korea, India, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada,
Austria, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Greece, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark ,
France, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ecuador, Brazil, Turkey have
signed the petition for Beltran's release.
Workers preparing for more actions
Labog stressed that the unity forged by all
labor centers will translate to more mass actions inside and outside
factories, workplaces and industrial zones.
"Labor groups are united to press for the
P125 wage hike bill and seek justice for Ka Bel and all workers. We will
not falter in defending our hard-earned economic and democratic rights in
all ways possible,” said Labog
He said KMU is already uniting with
various national labor centers for possible factory and community-based
calibrated protests in defense of civil liberties, democratic and
political rights and the livelihood of Filipino workers.”
“The detention of Ka Bel only serves
as a catalyst for the ouster of Arroyo. She should fear her own
‘destabilizing actions,’” Labog warned. Bulatlat
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