“If anyone is to be chosen for the job as DMW secretary in the labor sector, the choice is none other than Susan Ople.”
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, concurrent Commission on Appointments (CA) chairman, stressed this at the confirmation hearing of Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople on Nov. 29.
Ople’s confirmation process was swift.
With almost two decades of championing the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and backed by at least 26 organizations, the CA had all the reasons to confirm her appointment as the first DMW secretary.
She possesses the qualities of a leader needed to head the DMW, the new government agency tasked to ensure that the welfare of Filipino migrant workers are taken care of.
“If the incoming administration is to make good on their promises to our migrant workers, there is no better choice than Toots Ople. She is truly her father's daughter. The late Senate president Blas Ople made a career championing labor rights, and Toots spent her life continuing her family's legacy,”former senator Leila de Lima said shortly after President Marcos named Ople DMW secretary.“Her life-long work advocating for OFW rights and concerns makes her the best choice for the job.”
With Ople at the helm of the DMW, our migrant workers are assured they have someone to rely on anytime.
If she was able to fight for the rights of OFWs in her private capacity—as head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center & Training Institute (Ople Center)—there is no reason she can’t carry out her advocacy as DMW secretary, what with the government machinery now at her disposal.
As head of the Ople Center, she has received various recognitions. Among these is the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Hero Award given by the US State Department for helping reintegrate Filipino human trafficking victims into the mainstream society through skills training and other programs.
Now, as a member of the Cabinet, she will have the chance to institutionalize her advocacy and the visions of the Ople Center to help improve government policies on defending and protecting the rights of Filipino migrant workers.
To underscore her commitment to the cause of Filipino migrant workers, Ople told the CA: “Mr. Chairman, Your Honors, when my father—the late and former DFA Secretary Senate President Ka Blas Ople—died on Dec. 14, 2013, I pledged to dedicate my life to helping our migrant workers. It was and continues to be my way of honoring him, of keeping him close to me, and remembering the legacy he worked hard for.”
Her experience in carrying out the mission and visions of the Ople Center will come in handy in her new job.
The DMW was created as lead agency in implementing government “policies, plans and programs that will ensure the protection, promotion of interests, timely resolution of problems, and effective reintegration of OFWs.” These are the same advocacies of the Ople Center, which she led for close to two decades.
We welcome the confirmation of Secretary Ople and we look forward to the support of all stakeholders for the DMW’s mission.