THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- (UPDATE) The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) on Tuesday expressed grief over the death of labor leader and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Representative Crispin Beltran.

Fidel Agcaoili, member of the NDF peace negotiating panel, said the peace panel and its consultants had sent the Beltran family a white wreath with the message: "Pagpupugay sa isang dakilang bayani ng uring manggagawa at sambayanang Pilipino [In honor of an exemplary hero of the working class and the Filipino nation]."

NDF peace panel chairman Luis Jalandoni said they would turn their "grief into revolutionary courage" and continue the work of trying to realize the ideals Beltran had stood for.

The NDF is the umbrella group of underground organizations allied with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People?s Army. It represents the communist revolutionary movement in peace negotiations with the government.

Jalandoni said Beltran is a great loss to the international community, having been the first chairman of the International League of People's Struggle, which has 200 organizations from 40 countries.

A few years back, Jalandoni recalled, Beltran had just attended a hearing on the terrorist tag on CPP founder and NDF political consultant Jose Maria Sison in Luxembourg when the car they were riding in got stuck in a ditch. Beltran, who was wearing a suit, got out of the car and pushed it out of the ditch.

"He didn't mind that he was wearing a suit. He was that kind of man," he said.