Title
To commemorate and honor the life and legacy of Baltazar "Bal" Pinguel, a former political prisoner who braved imprisonment and death threats to challenge authoritarian regimes in the Philippines and around the globe and became a tireless activist for peace and justice and a radical voice for a democratic people's movement.
Body
WHEREAS, Before Philadelphia became his home, Baltazar "Bal" Pinguel was an anti-imperialist, anti-dictatorship activist who fought his entire life for national independence and real democracy for the Philippines in the face of a repressive regime; and
WHEREAS, Baltazar opposed Philippine involvement in the Vietnam War, decrying the deployment of troops and presence of U.S. naval bases as colonialist and oppressive, and said that the war opened his eyes and pushed him to engage deeper into the Filipino resistance; and
WHEREAS, Baltazar was at the front and center of social movements ranging from ousting United States military bases to fighting for land reform for Filipino peasants; and
WHEREAS, Baltazar was a prominent leader in the struggle against colonialism and for political justice, and emphasized that the working-class and immigrants were a vital force in this struggle, without whom the struggle would not continue nor be revolutionary; and
WHEREAS, Baltazar became legendary as a fiery orator at rallies in Manila and was the last open and legal spokesperson of Kabataang Makabayan (KM), the largest militant youth and student organization in the Philippines, engaging more than 75,000 members in 1971; and
WHEREAS, Baltazar's organizing and leadership caused him to be identified as a threat to national security by the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, forcing him to go underground when martial law was declared in 1972; and
WHEREAS, In 1973 under martial law, Baltazar was arrested, along with other university students and teachers, becoming among many who were indefinitely detained and tortured by the Marco...
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