ANAKPAWIS party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, one of the country’s respected veteran labor leaders, died yesterday after accidentally falling from the 14-foot roof of his house in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
He was 75.
Beltran died of brain injuries at 11:48 a.m. while being treated at the Far Eastern University Hospital in Fairview, Quezon City where he suffered multiple seizures.
House Speaker Pros-pero Nograles condoled with Beltran’s wife Rosario and their 11 children and hailed the lawmaker as “the staunchest voice for the welfare of workers and the masses in the House.”
“We are saddened by the news of the accident that befell our feisty and most esteemed colleague,” he said as he ordered that the House’s flag be flown at half-mast.
The progressive bloc composed of Anakpawis, Bayan Muna and Gabriela party-list groups said “Ka Bel’s (Beltran) death is an irreparable loss not only to the working class movement but to every Filipino yearning for genuine social change.”
“He was a tower of a man, a pillar of strength for the progressive people’s movement. His name has become synonymous to the militant labor movement,” they said.
House minority leader Ronaldo Zamora said it was so “characteristic of this patriot and nationalist that he should die while fixing the roof of his own house, doing things by himself rather than sending out for professional help.”
“He was fixing the roof that shelters every Filipino worker and living the life of a real Filipino advocate until the very end,” he said.
Dr. Arnold Corpus, Beltran’s attending physician, said the lawmaker suffered a cut at the right side of his head and broken ribs.
Beltran was brought into the hospital at 9:42 a.m. where doctors tried to revive him until his family decided to cut his life support.
The accident happened at 6 a.m. when the congressman lost his balance on the way down after fixing a leak on the roof.
Beltran’s daughter Ofelia said their father fell “face first” and was unconscious on the way to the North Caloocan Doctor’s Hospital where he was initially revived.
Ofelia said that while Beltran went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, it was the head injury that killed him.
Second nominee
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chairman Rafael Mariano is expected to replace Beltran, being the second nominee of Anakpawis.
Beltran’s remains will be brought to the University of the Philippines (UP) chapel today from their home in Bulacan.
Malacañang officials were saddened by the untimely demise of Beltran, whom they described as a true Filipino who stood and fought for what he believed in.
Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde and Presidential spokespersons Lorelei Fajardo and Anthony Golez said the administration is sending its condolences to the Beltran family as they join them in mourning his death.
They said that while Beltran had some different views with the government including the military, he was regarded with high esteem as he “represented the interests of our labor force and was considered a vital figure in our country’s modern political history.”
Various labor and militant groups in the country and abroad also mourned the death of Beltran.
Beltran’s militant crusade began during the Japanese occupation when he served as a volunteer courier for the resistance group and later worked as a janitor and a taxi driver before organizing the Amalgamated Taxi Drivers Association.
He was also one of those arrested in 1982 during the Marcos regime and later took over the presidency of the Kilusang Mayo Uno after the murder of Rolando Olalia.
From February 2001 to November 2003, Beltran served as vice president and one of the three representatives of Bayan Muna and Anakapawis in 2004.
Among Beltran’s pet bills are House Bill 3059 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) and House Bill 1722, which calls for a P125 across-the-board wage increase for workers. (Sunnex)
