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Issue Number 31, October 2008
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Kapatiran Issue
No. 31, October 2008
PHILIPPINE TRIBUTES TO KA BEL
Ka Bel's Unfinished Business
Bruce van Voorhis, Column: Rights and Wrongs, UPI
Asia Online (http://www.upiasiaonline.com), Hong Kong,
June 5, 2008
A 75-year-old man fatally fell from a ladder while
repairing a leaky roof in the Philippines on May 20
before an approaching typhoon. Normally this tragedy only
affects the man’s family and friends; but when the
man is Congressman Crispin Beltran, the repercussions
have rippled throughout the toiling masses that he
represented in the House of Representatives and has
touched the lives of Filipino migrant workers and others
who respected him around the world.
In his case, the way he died speaks volumes about the way
he lived, for how many 75-year-old Congressmen would be
repairing their own leaky roof? Yet for Ka Bel, as he was
widely and respectfully known throughout the Philippines,
it personifies the simple lifestyle that he maintained
throughout his life, from his humble beginnings as a farm
hand, janitor, gasoline boy, messenger, bus driver and
taxi driver to national labour leader for more than five
decades to three-term Congressman.
Moreover, he moved from the role of activist to that of a
congressman without succumbing to the temptations of
power. In spite of having access to 26 million pesos
($US596,700) annually in discretionary funds for his
district, he continued to live in his modest house with
its leaky roof. He could represent the interests of the
working poor in the Philippines because his life was one
with theirs.
Not only did he refrain from stealing public funds, but
he refused to accept bribes dangled before him, such as
the two million pesos ($US46,000) allegedly offered by
Francis Ver last October for his support of a weak
impeachment motion in Congress that would insulate
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for a year from any
stronger and genuine impeachment motion. Ka Bel’s
disclosure of the bribe by her ally instead became a
public embarrassment for the president.
Although Ka Bel is probably most respected and loved for
his more than 50 years as a labour activist for those who
were underpaid and overworked, his role as a congressmen
should not be minimised, for he is one of the few
activists in the Philippines, or, indeed, in Asia, to
take his advocacy for workers from the streets to the
corridors of the legislature and still remain true to the
interests of the poor. He was always an advocate for
their interests, not his own self-interest.
During his tenure as a Congressman, which began in 2001,
he consistently pushed for a 125 peso (about $US2.90)
increase in the country’s daily minimum wage, an
increase whose legislation still awaits passage in spite
of today’s constantly rising food and oil prices. He
not only supported those who faced injustices in the
workplace but also those who stood for justice in the
country since the time of the Marcos dictatorship.
He, for instance, was a major proponent of the Marcos
Victims Compensation Bill, which, like the minimum wage
legislation, has not been enacted into law since being
introduced several years ago. He was a co-author of a
bill seeking to criminalise disappearances in the
country, a phenomenon that has claimed hundreds of
victims since Arroyo became President in 2001. It too has
not become law.
These examples illustrate a small sample of the
unfinished business left for others to continue after the
tragic and sudden death of Ka Bel. Fortunately, the
Philippines has a number of other activist politicians in
Congress - the names of Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casino and
Rafael Mariano come to mind - but there is a need for
many others who share the vision, passion and commitment
of Ka Bel to join them if Ka Bel’s work for social
justice is to be realised.
Presently, the interests of the affluent in the
Philippines are well represented while those of the poor
are underrepresented in both Congress and the
Administration. Consequently, the laws and policies of
the country serve a wealthy minority, not the
impoverished majority of the people. Ka Bel sought to
change this equation and, in so doing, to make the
Philippines a true democracy in which the rule of the
majority prevails, not rule by the minority.
It is in this context that Ka Bel will be painfully
missed. He sought to translate his activism into laws
that served the common good of his country. He was a rare
man today -- a man of integrity, an uncommon common man.
The Philippines and the world need more Ka Bels if
justice is to overcome injustice.
Bruce Van Voorhis is a staff member of the Asian
Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong
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