A PALL of gloom descended over the House of Representatives on Wednesday as the body of labor leader and party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, more popularly known as Ka Bel, of Anakpawis lay at the plenary hall where a Mass and necrological service were held before the militant legislator was laid to rest in Bulacan.

Almost everybody was teary eyed as the casket bearing former taxi driver Ka Bel, carried by the militant bloc in the House—party-list Reps. Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela and several members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) all in clenched fists—was taken in at the building’s main gate around 9 a.m. A military honor guard accompanied them.

A funeral procession—starting from the Independent Church in Taft Avenue, Manila, where Beltran’s body was brought since he died on May 20, to the Don Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola) for the “last glimpse” of the historic rally site, to the Batasan Complex—was participated in by thousands of Beltran’s supporters, mostly from militant groups, particularly the Anakpawis and KMU, which was cofounded and later headed by the late legislator.

Wearing black armbands, legislators, led by Speaker Prospero Nograles, paid their last respects and offered white roses to their colleague who died on May 20 after falling from the roof of his house in Bulacan while fixing it.

Opposition Sen. Francis Escudero also attended the Mass and necrological services.

Security was initially tightened at the complex following reports that President Arroyo is coming to pay her last respects to Beltran. Mrs. Arroyo, however, did not arrive.

Militant priest Fr. Jose Dizon, who led the Mass, asked House leaders to act on reform bills fought for by Beltran, including that for a legislated P125 across-the-board wage hike for workers in the private sector, as their “last respect” for him.

He also called on Beltran’s supporters to carry on his fight for decent wages, land reform and the protection of human rights.

Maza said Beltran, 75, has filed at least 130 resolutions and House bills in the 13th Congress, the highest in history.

Nograles, in his eulogy, said Beltran stands tall from among those whose deeds in the service of the Filipino will long be remembered and never forgotten.

“This chamber is greatly diminished by the passing of Ka Bel. So is the Filipino nation. We will not see a man like him again for a long time,” Nograles said.

“I  join all the members of this chamber in the prayer that the family of Ka Bel find comfort knowing that he is not only loved by his comrades in his struggles for the working man and the masses. He has earned the undying respect of a nation where freedom flourishes more vibrantly because of his labors,” he added.

Based on the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth of members of the House released on the day that Ka Bel died, the labor leader is the poorest legislator with only P50,000 net worth.

Following the necrological service at the House, a marching band from the National Police escorted the funeral march to the gate of the Batasan Complex where thousands of Beltran’s supporters, mostly wearing red T-shirts, joined the march to the Angel of Meadows Memorial Park in Angat, Bulacan, where Beltran was laid to rest.

AI notes dramatic decrease in human-rights violations

AMNESTY International (AI) on Wednesday noted the “dramatic decrease in the number of victims of extrajudicial killings in 2007 compared with the previous records in 2005 and 2006.”

FORMER elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. was a no-show on Wednesday’s continuation of the hearing on the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Co. at the Office of the Ombudsman, creating tension among lawyers of the contending parties.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED) and Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group-Task Force Subic (PASG-TFS) agents confiscated some P4.62 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu after a foiled attempt to smuggle the illegal drugs into Subic.

A PALL of gloom descended over the House of Representatives on Wednesday as the body of labor leader and party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, more popularly known as Ka Bel, of Anakpawis lay at the plenary hall where a Mass and necrological service were held before the militant legislator was laid to rest in Bulacan.

TO mitigate the effects of the skyrocketing price of petroleum products on the country’s economy, legislators have proposed the implementation of energy-conservation measures such as carpooling and reducing government working days to four.

THE environment group Greenpeace, together with several legislators, on Wednesday urged the government to adopt a national energy program that would harness the massive renewable- energy potentials of the country while reducing its dependence on dirty energy resources, particularly coal.

THE Swedish minister for migration and asylum, Tobias Billstrom, said his government is working with other Schengen member-countries of the European Union in their embassies in Manila to accept and process short-stay visas to Sweden, amid possible constraints on the visa application of Filipinos traveling that country owing to the closure of its embassy here starting next month.

THE appointment of former Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon as head of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process may adversely affect the ongoing peace process, citing the military official’s bad human-rights record.