PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said no one could replace Migrant Workers Secretary Maria Susana “Toots” Ople but he would find someone just as “good” to lead the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and promote the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The President, together with Vice President Sara Duterte, led the Cabinet in paying their last respects to Ople during a necrological service at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang.
Marcos also recognized Ople as a modern-day hero, during rites for National Heroes’ Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.
Ople passed away on August 22, at the age of 61 after battling cancer. She is a staunch advocate of OFW rights and founded the Blas Ople Policy Center which assists distressed OFWs in various parts of the world. Ople’s father, former senator and labor minister Blas Ople, is known as the “Father of Overseas Employment.”
Toots’ remains will be cremated and inurned today at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.
Aside from the President, Ople’s daughter Estelle Ople-Osorio also delivered a message during the necrological service in Malacañang. From the Palace, Ople’s casket was transferred to the DMW main office in Mandaluyong City.
Marcos, in his message, reiterated the country suffered a great loss with Ople’s passing, and the migrant workers lost a champion.
“And if I do shed a tear, it is because it is such a sad day to know… that Toots will not be here anymore and what a big gap she will leave not only to our friends, not only to our family but to the millions of those who she took care of, who she loved, and who she worked for tirelessly and endlessly,” he said.
The President said everyone should honor Ople and her memory by honoring and continuing her work.
“So let us not let her down. I hope I never let her down when she was alive. I fully do not intend to let her down now that she is gone. I will always remember her with great fondness and affection, and great respect,” Marcos said.
The President said Ople, despite her ailment, remained dedicated and continued to work tirelessly to help the OFWs, which is why he chose to appoint her as the first secretary of the DMW.
Ople last year said she underwent breast cancer surgery in 2020.
Marcos said he knew that even if he had not appointed Ople to lead the DMW, she would have continued working and helping OFWs.
REPLACEMENT
Marcos said that following Ople’s demise, among the things he had to think about was who could replace her at DMW and continue what she had started.
“We will look for someone as good but we cannot replace Toots… we cannot hope to have another Toots,” he said in Filipino
He vowed to find someone who would continue what Ople started at the DMW to ensure the welfare of millions of OFWs, and would pursue Ople’s vision for the new department.
At the commemoration of National Heroes’ Day, Marcos paid tribute to Ople for championing the rights of OFWs and her dedication to public service.
“We must mention a dear and departed friend who we can only describe as well as a hero, and that is our good friend who we just lost, Secretary Toots Ople. And she is a perfect example of what true heroism can be. She tirelessly dedicated the better part of her life to promoting the welfare of our modern-day heroes,” he said.
Ople-Osorio thanked the President for giving her mother the chance to do the job that she loves.
She said her mother, who suffered from Stage 4 cancer, had hoped she would be be given a chance to continue her work until the end of the year so that she could prepare the DMW for her successor.
She also said the Ople family hopes the next DMW head would pursue some of the programs that her mother planned, such as the establishment of a cancer treatment program for OFWs.
Ople-Osorio said their family would remain active in sustaining her mother’s advocacies and the legacy of her late grandfather Blas Ople. The elder Ople served as Labor chief during the administration of Marcos’ father, the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos. — With Gerard Naval
