Beltran back in Batasan, but only temporarily
Brandishing a court order, Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran left his hospital room where he had been detained for 15 months for rebellion charges to attend the three-day closing session of the 13th Congress.
But Beltran’s liberty was only temporary as Makati Judge Elmo Alameda merely allowed him to leave the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) to attend the closing session.
“It’s so nice to be back. It’s time to go back to work for the people,” Beltran said as he urged his colleagues in Congress to pass his pet bill giving workers a P125 across-the-board wage increase.
Beltran, 74, said he was grateful for the
“I am thankful to the court for giving me leave to attend the final session days. I will use this to thank my colleagues who supported me all throughout and to continue to seek their support for the campaign against the worsening human and civil rights situation,” he said.
Beltran’s co-accused – Reps. Satur Ocampo,
“The Arroyo government should end its vindictiveness and cruelty,” they declared in a joint statement. They asked other House members to pass a “multi-partisan resolution” seeking Beltran’s immediate release from detention.
“It is an outright lie for Malacañang to claim that the SC decision has long-term adverse effects on the criminal justice system. That is unfair to the SC and doubly unfair to us,” they said.
“The government lost its case because of the legal shortcuts, violation of due process rights of the accused and politicized acts of prosecutors,” they said.
“The SC must be respected in its rights, powers and prerogatives as the highest court of the land. It has the power and duty to check acts and rulings of lower courts and quasijudicial bodies, especially those that involve grave abuse of discretion and the misuse of the justice system for unjust ends,” they added.
“We urge Malacañang to graciously accept defeat and to respect the decision and prerogatives of the Supreme Court. There is no use for a motion for reconsideration now, except for the obvious reason that the government wants to heartlessly keep Ka Bel in jail and show its vindictiveness to political dissenters.”
Beltran, in red barong tagalog, was escorted by policemen on his way to the House of Representatives in a PHC ambulance. The same PHC ambulance would ferry him to and from PHC in the coming days.
Militant organizations held a rally outside the PHC to dramatize their support for Beltran and denounce the Arroyo administration.
Pay hospital bills
Beltran’s family wants the government to shoulder the hospital bills, which reportedly ran up to close to P700,000.
“We demand that government pay the bills plus moral damages to our family,” Ofelia Beltran-Balleta, daughter of the veteran labor leader, told reporters at
Balleta went to
During the first few months of confinement, Beltran’s daughter said the family managed to handle the hospital bills with donations from friends and his father’s fellow lawmakers.
Balleta, however, pointed out that her father’s hospital bills piled up when government appropriation was frozen during the election period.
“Some (of our friends) are now giving donations. Ka Bel is a senior citizen entitled to discounts and PhilHealth so he can still avail of discounts. Hopefully, it will not reach P1 million,” she added.
Balleta also called Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales liars for threatening to appeal the dismissal despite an earlier pronouncement that they would not. – With Karlo Baylosis and AFP
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