SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday mourned the passing away of Sec. Susan “Toots” Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers.
“Migrant workers and workers in general, have just lost a great and tireless champion in Secretary Ople. She was the first secretary of the department Congress had created to focus on attending to the welfare of millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” Romualdez, head of the 311-member House of Representatives, said.
The Speaker said Ople was a consistent advocate of protecting workers’ rights, earning accolades not only from local labor groups but from international organizations as well.
“She took up such advocacy from her father, the late Senate President Blas F. Ople, who was labor minister of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Father and daughter served under two Marcoses,” he said.
The House leader noted that after the death of her father, Toots Ople, as a civilian, continued to help OFWs and domestic workers and pushed for their rights, using the advocacy office set up by her father, the Blas F. Ople Center.
“Our thoughts and prayers go to Secretary Toots Ople’s family and loved ones at this most difficult time,” Romualdez said.
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