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"Ka Bel, A Documentary" is a film featuring the life and struggles of Crispin B. Beltran. Ka Bel, as he is commonly called, was the labour leader of Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement) and the Representative of Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Partylist in the Philippine Congress. The film is presented in commemoration of the third anniversary of his passing in May 20, 2008.
The aim is to inspire fellow Filipinos and other working people to engage in collective action in order to assert the rights of workers. Also to encourage fellow Filipinos to become engaged in organizing work and campaigns that will help further the Filipino people’s goals of attaining national freedom and genuine democracy in their homeland. Ka Bel’s life and work is examplary of the struggle for worker rights.
He came from a humble background like many Filipino migrant workers in Canada, and Ka Bel was one of the Philippine congress representatives who passed a resolution for the Philippine government to investigate the situation of Filipino live-in caregivers in Canada. Ka Bel is a role model and can serve as a source of pride, and inspiration to find meaningful ways of engaging with community. a Bel was a former chairperson of the largest federation of trade unions in the Philippines, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement), and was responsible for the formation of unions in many different factories.
Migrant workers’ organizations and unions may gain lessons from Ka Bel’s organizing work. Ka Bel’s work as a labour leader was not confined to workers’ issues alone, but constituted a part of the larger struggle of the Filipino people against foreign domination in the economic, political, social and cultural life of the Philippines. Besides being a staunch defender of human rights, Ka Bel also fell victim to human rights violations himself. He was a political prisoner during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and again, during the term of ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ka Bel visited Canada in 1997 as the Chariperson of KMU, and in 2008 as a Philippine Congress representative to bring the Philippine human rights situation to the attention of Parliament, he was able to meet Filipino community members, union leaders and members of other progressive organizations.
The film is in Tagalog, the Filipino language, with English subtitle. Screening is organized by the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Movement (FMWM) FMWM is an Ontario registered not-for-profit organization which aims to assert the rights and welfare of Filipino migrant and immigrant workers in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as the rights and welfare of our fellow overseas workers and their families around the world, while supporting the aspirations of the Filipino people for national sovereignty and genuine democracy. It does this through the promotion of fair labour practices and equal rights for all migrant and immigrant workers, advocating for justice, peace and international solidarity. It provides education and workshops such as know-your-rights, income tax preparation and filing, changes to the immigration policy, with emphasis to the Live-in Caregiver Program/Temporary Foreign Worker Program. FMWM is a member of the Canada chapter of Migrante International, an alliance of Filipino migrant workers’ organizations.
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