Press Release
May 25, 2008

CRISPIN BELTRAN A MARTYR TO THE CAUSE OF POOR -- PIMENTEL

"You are a martyr to the cause of the poor. You belong to them and only they can rightfully claim you as their very own."

With these words, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) paid tribute to the late labor leader and Anak Pawis party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran who met an untimely death in an accident a few days ago.

Pimentel said that Beltran "was of the poor, stood by the poor and was for the poor."

As a labor leader and freedom fighter, he said Beltran did what he believed was the right thing to do: to fight for the rights of the underprivileged no matter what the cost.

"In the twilight of his life, he made that smooth transition from being a firebrand - who in the minds of the conservators of the status quo meant being an arsonist who would burn anything which stood on the way to liberating his fellow workers - to a torch bearer who in the minds of all well-meaning citizens meant illuminating the path of those who search for the better life in a democratic and peaceful manner," the minority leader said.

Pimentel said that Beltran, in his youth, had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to keep alive by working as a janitor, messenger and taxi driver and doing other odd jobs.

In his manhood, he said Beltran had to fight for his rights and the rights of his fellow workers, to keep his dignity. He is credited with having organized the Confederation of Labor of the Philippines and helped found the Philippine Workers Congress. During the martial law years, he was associated with the Kilusang Mayo Uno, a militant labor organization.

"But by the standards of a community that did not want its comfort zone disturbed, Ka Bel was made to look like a born trouble-maker who the capitalists in Manila, would have wanted eliminated," the opposition senator said.

As a party-list representative of Bayan-Muna, and later of Anak Pawis to Congress, he said Beltran fiercely demonstrated his independence and was a source of embarrassment to those who trudged the easy path to power, pelf and fame.

Pimentel said Beltran espoused nationalists causes like the campaign against import liberation and globalization that were not exactly to the liking of the coalition of traditional parties that ruled that House of Representatives. He said it was also Beltran who exposed bribery attempts by the administration partisans to abort the impeachment resolutions against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005.

He said Beltran kept his nose clean even as he fought his parliamentary battles in "the putrid environment of transactional politics."

"Ka Bel could have been bought by the interests of the rich and the establishment. He could have succumbed to threats of the mighty and the powerful," Pimentel said.

"But he resisted all that. And that by itself is sufficient to say that Ka Bel was a sui generis kind of man. A man alone. A man in the mold heroes."

Pimentel said Beltran's life puts to shame many of his brethren in politics and in religion who claim to love and serve the poor.

He said even Beltran's widow, Rosario o "Ka Osang," says that he was a man worthy of his word as a married man and as a father. Not too many politicians deserve that accolade from their spouses, he added.

"God speed, Ka Bel and may you enjoy the rest that you never had in this world but may the example of your life now as torchbearer give faith to our people that all is not lost in this country and that there is hope for the better as your life has shown."

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