A vocal advocate for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Susan “Toots” Ople, has been nominated by presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to lead the newly-established Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Read more here:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/18/ople-confirms-marcos-offer-to-head-new-ofw-centric-agency/
https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/17/marcos-wooing-laguesma-ople-to-his-cabinet/
Under the Arroyo administration, Ople tenured as Department of Labor and Employment Undersecretary from 2004 to 2009.
She served as the Chief of Staff for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) when her father, the late politician Blas Ople, took the reins as DFA Secretary.
The DMW nominee is also president and founder the “Blas Ople Policy Center (BPOC),” an organization that assists and caters to the needs of OFWs; the BPOC has even worked with the DFA to assist in cases of trafficking.
According to former Marcos spokesperson Atty. Vic Rodriguez, the discussions between Marcos Jr. and Ople regarding the DMW offer were said to have been amicable.
Ople also said that Marcos picked her to jumpstart the young DMW.
As the DMW Secretary, Ople will lead the DMW in assisting, tracking, and addressing the concerns of 2.2 million OFWs.
Her late father was an ally to and was appointed as Secretary of Labor and Employment during the administration of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
In 2022, a Marcos has once again called on the service of an Ople.