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Anakpawis
Party-List From the Office of Rep. Crispin Beltran News Release Saturday June 2, 2007 "It's been a very trying 15 months, but we have only grown stronger because of this experience" - Beltran Detained lawmaker Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran today expressed high hopes that the Supreme Court decision junking the rebellion charges filed against the progressive party-list lawmakers will be implemented at the soonest possible time. "I hope that very early on Monday, June 4, I will be free to walk out of my detention hospital room at the Philippine Heart Center without a phalanx of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) operatives and elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) escorting me. It's been a very trying 15 months; I don't want to spend another minute in detention given that there's so much work to be done," he said. Beltran expects to be able to attend the special closing session of the 13th Congress from June 4 to 7 at the House of Representatives and deliver a privileged speech regarding his ordeal. He said that it was precisely his and his former co-accused progressive lawmakers' active pro-people and anti-corruption advocacy that had the charged with rebellion in the first place. "Malacanang thought it could silence us by throwing various made-up charges against us, but we've proven them wrong. We can only grow stronger with this experience, and the virulence of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration's anti-democracy, anti-civil and human rights orientation further exposed," he said. In the meantime, Beltran family members are mulling filing charges against the staff and officials of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the PNP who orchestrated Rep. Beltran's arrest February 25 last year. Ofelia Balleta, Beltran's second daughter, said that the family 'went through hell when my father was arrested." "My father was 73 years old when he was arrested and now he's 74. They took 15 months away from my father's life and from the rest of my family's. It was a very stressful situation for all of us, including the grandchildren who wondered why their 'Lolo Daddy' could never visit them," she said. In the meantime, Rep. Beltran's legal counsel Atty. Romeo Capulong that very bright and early on Mu\onday, June 4, he will go the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 and the office of Judge Elmo Alameda and seek the judge's immediate execution of the SC decision and the signing of all pertinent legal documents to secure Beltran's immediate and unequivocal release. "The SC decision declaring Rep. Beltran's innocence of all charges is clear and self-explanatory. There is no more reason to drag this issue any further. Ka Bel should be released by Monday and no more questions asked. We thank the Supreme Court for its just and benevolent decision, " he concluded.# News Release Saturday June 2, 2007 Beltran slams Malacanang's plans to file appeal to SC decision junking rebellion charges against progressive solons Detained lawmaker Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran today slammed the declaration of Malacanang spokesperson Ignacio Bunye that the Supreme Court decision junking the rebellion charges against the progressive party-list lawmakers of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women's Party (GWP) were fraught with legal consequences and hence the Malacanang through the Department of Justice and the office of the solicitor general will issue an appeal to it. "Malacanang is appealing the SC decision because it questioned not only the legality of the rebellion charges against us, but the very motives of the Macapagal-Arroyo government for filing the same. Time and again we have been told to submit to the authority of the judicial system, and we did. Now that the High Court came out with a decision that rightly and fairly favors us, Malacang is sorely contesting it. Parang pikon lang talaga ang gobyernong Arroyo," he said. "Isn't it enough that we've had this sword hanging above our heads for the last 15 months? Isn't is enough that I've been denied my rights and my freedom for 15 months? If the Supreme Court upheld the rebellion charges against us, it would've been a party to the setting of a most dangerous precedent attacking the over-all civil and political rights of Filipinos. The High Court exercised the highest standard of justice and morality by dismissing these charges against us. Malacanang should not contest this decision and withdraw all plans and intentions to file an appeal," he said. "Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez should know when he's defeated. He should acknowledge that he can only go so far with his abuse of authority and machinations. His sense of justice is twisted and he should learn to back off from fights when he has already been reduced to fighting dirty," he said. # News Release Sunday June 3, 2007 To the Solgen: It's Malacanang and the DOJ who flaunted criminal law and procedure when it went after the Batasan 6 and had me arrested on false charges and a lapsed warrant – Ka Bel Detained lawmaker Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran today chided Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera for saying that the Supreme Court decision junking the rebellion charges against progressive party-list lawmakers will have adverse circumstances on the criminal justice system. "Sol.Gen. Devanadera has been giving my attorneys the run-around ever since Malacanang announced a month ago that it will not contest any motion for my release. Now, all of sudden, she's visible again and in fighting form; only she's out to defend the government's immoral, illegal and unjust right to prosecute and incarcerate the innocent. SolGen. Devanedera should refrain from sounding high and mighty as if she's genuinely defending the criminal justice system. By contesting the Supreme Court decision that declared us the victims of the government's campaign of political persecution, she is actually being a party to the potential imposition of more injustice and political repression," he said. "It is the Department of Justice and Malacanang itself who flaunted criminal law and procedure out the window when they went after us February 2006 and had me arrested and detained on the strength of a two-decade old warrant and bogus testimonies. Sol. Gen. Devanadera is barking up the wrong tree when she accuses the SC on this issue," he added. Beltran has been detained for 15 months, 12 months of which he spent at the Philippine Heart Center under close guard by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The first three months he was detained in a cramped cell in Cam Crame. "I have been denied my rights as an elected lawmaker, and a Filipino citizen when I was arrested on a lapsed warrant. My detention also denied the constituents of my party-list Anakpawis of one sectoral representative. My family suffered throughout these ordeal. The Supreme Court's decision was an affirmation of what I have been insisting all along – my innocence of all charges. The government machinated to have me arrested and detained to cripple our pro-poor advocacy and legislative work that just so happened to go against that of the corrupt and illegitimate Macapagal-Arroyo administration," he said. "I demand immediate justice for myself, my party-list and all the Filipinos who have supported me throughout this 15 month ordeal. We have worked long and hard to press for my release, and the Arroyo government can not deny that it sustained countless blows from the local civil and human rights advocates as well as the international community who also continue to call for my freedom. The SC decision was fair and objective, and Sol.Gen. Devanadera and Malacanang through the DOJ's plan to appeal should be immediately nipped in the bud. They are risking even greater public and international outrage," he said. Anakpawis, the Free Ka Bel Movement , Kilusang Mayo Uno ( KMU ) and sister party-lists Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women's Party, Kabataan Party and Suara Bangsa Moro will be holding a mass action in front of the Makati Regional Trial Court offices tomorrow, June 4, 2007 at 9:30 am and there wait for the court to assign the documents finalizing the dismissal of rebellion charges against Ka Bel. Anakpawis leaders also said that there will be protests against the DOJ and the Devanadera's office if they persist with their intent to file an appeal to the decision.# |
