Top officials paid tribute to Department Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople after the agency announced her death on Tuesday afternoon. She was 61.
Before accepting the DMW post, Ople revealed that her breast cancer diagnosis in 2020 was “definitely a factor” in her decision to head the agency. She underwent a major surgery on Feb. 26, 2020.
Ople, the daughter of the late former senator Blas Ople, has championed the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), establishing the non-governmental organization Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute (Ople Center) in 2005 to protect the rights of migrants.
The Ople Center bade farewell in a Facebook post to a “remarkable individual” who “touched the lives of countless people.”
“Her passion for social justice and unwavering commitment to migrant workers’ rights made a profound impact on our society,” it said in a statement.
“As we mourn the loss of a great leader, let us also celebrate her life, the lives she improved, and the positive changes she brought to our nation. Her memory will serve as a reminder that one person can make a significant difference in the world.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was visiting a car plant in Laguna, told reporters that the “Philippines has lost a friend” with Ople’s death.
“It is a great loss for all of us. It is a great loss to the Philippines for the service we know she could have still rendered,” he said.
“Secretary Toots was a special person with a deep compassion really for the people she had to care for, namely the migrant workers,” the president added.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Ople left an “irreplaceable void” in government service.
“She showed us that true leadership is about kindness and compassion. [Her] passing leaves an irreplaceable void, but one that we will strive to fill with the same remarkable warmth, conviction, and passion that she had in life,” he said in a statement.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez lauded Ople’s “passion” for being “a voice for the voiceless” as the agency handled numerous complaints, including abuse.
“Secretary Ople’s dedication to the welfare of our migrant workers was more than just a duty; it was a deeply ingrained passion,” he said in a statement.
“She served as a voice for the voiceless, a comfort to families separated by seas, and a beacon of hope to many,” the House speaker added.
Ople is the first secretary of the DMW in its fully constituted form in 2023.
In 2004, she assumed a labor undersecretary role under the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Ople graduated in 1985 from the University of Santo Tomas with a Communications degree before working as a writer, columnist and radio host.
She ran for senator in 2016 under the Nacionalista Party but failed to land in the Top 12. She also sought for a senatorial seat in the 2010 elections.