Karapatan on Ka Bel: ‘A Most Precious Gem’

Seventy-five years of a life lived in the defense of peoples’ rights makes Ka Bel a most precious gem in Philippine history

We in the Philippine human rights alliance Karapatan join the family and the nation in mourning the untimely death of Crispin ‘Ka Bel’ Beltran.

Indeed, all of us are overwhelmed with grief in his passing away.

But we are consoled by the fact that Ka Bel lived a life in the defense of peoples’ rights and in the service of humankind.

In January 2008, Ka Bel celebrated his 75th birthday, a year associated with diamonds. Indeed, Ka Bel’s life is like the world’s most precious stone that is cut and polished several times over to bring out the rock’s beauty and durability that makes it so valuable. He had surpassed challenges, trials, and persecution in the course of the defense of people’s rights.

Even as the fascist US-Arroyo regime sought to silence the progressive party list representatives in Congress through its so-called legal offensives, Ka Bel fought hard, received overwhelming national and international support and emerged triumphant.

At 75, Ka Bel was a brilliant diamond of a life - a shining example of proletarian simplicity and revolutionary zeal.

Much has been said about Ka Bel and his virtues as a genuine leader of the working class. Even political adversaries admit that he is a vital figure in our country’s modern political history. We cannot stress enough that Ka Bel was foremost a staunch human rights defender who sought to promote and protect the Filipino people’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
As a member of the National Executive Board of SELDA, replacing the late Rolando Olalia, when the latter was murdered during the Aquino presidency, Ka Bel fought for the release of political prisoners and Prisoners of War (POW) here and around the world, as well as for the indemnification of victims of Marcos’ martial law victims. As one of the principal authors of the Marcos Victims Compensation Bill in Congress, Ka Bel died without seeing the bill passed into law. He would have wanted to see the day that the Marcos victims receive what is due them.

He fought for justice for the victims of human rights violations of every regime even as he had always become the victim of such in doing so. But he persisted to take up the cudgels for the powerless and the voiceless in society without asking for anything in return. And looking at the vintage feisty Ka Bel’s way of conducting his fight, we are very sure that Ka Bel was a very happy man living his Life in his own way, on his own terms.

Above all, Ka Bel’s humanity is exhibited in his ardent participation in the national democratic struggle, the victory of which means the realization of people’s rights to genuine freedom and democracy. Ka Bel was a cut above the rest. His political color was a bright crimson red which he carried through to the end with such aplomb because he practiced what he preached. He set a clear and brilliant example in class leadership.

They say that a diamond is forever. Like a diamond, Ka Bel will live forever in our hearts. He is forever etched in the collective memory of our nation as he is a source of inspiration for everyone who fights for freedom, justice and peace.###