Release of Ka Bel is a blow against the tyranny of Malacañang!

The release of veteran labor leader and Anakpawis Rep. Ka Crispin Beltran is a victory of due process and the rule of law against the perversions that Malacañang and its agents want to impose on the public.

Using trumped-up charges from two decades back and circumventing an executive order that pardons crimes and charges that were politically motivated, this administration imprisoned and kept an union leader on the premise of a baseless accusation.

The Supreme Court ruling declaring this arrest as without merit is a slap in the face of a government only too willing to exert the most inhumane of means to silence its opponents and preserve itself.

The case of Ka Bel is only one of the most prominent cases of persecution under this beleaguered administration. Nowadays, we often hear of a worker being abducted, killed or involuntarily disappeared. The culture of impunity encouraged by the inaction of this administration over the thousands of extra-judicial killings must be stopped.

The long-term implications of political persecution a are unimaginably horrifying. Not only does it undermine the rights enshrined in our Constitution, it sends out a clear and concrete message: violence meets those who dare to stand and rise against tyranny, corruption and abuse.

This administration must be made to account for its persecution of Ka Bel, and activists in general. We must continue to expose its corruption and subversion of democratic ideals in the name of political expediency and survival.

No amount of repression will frighten workers into submission! Workers everywhere will continue the struggle to defend and advance workers' rights.