President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. paid his last respects to the late Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople at the Heritage Memorial Chapels in Taguig City on Wednesday evening, Aug. 23.

Marcos was accompanied by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos. They arrived at Ople's wake at 7:29 p.m. and left at 8:05 p.m.

Aside from the First Couple, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco were also at the wake.

Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former senate president Manny Villar and his wife, Senator Cynthia Villar, were also seen paying their respects.

The DMW confirmed Ople's passing on Tuesday, Aug. 22. While they did not mention the cause of her death, Ople had disclosed that she had been battling breast cancer. She was 61.

On Tuesday, Marcos lamented Ople's death, saying he and the country had lost a friend.

"It's a very, very sad news. I have lost a friend. The Philippines has lost a friend," he said in a media interview.

"Secretary Ople is a special person with a deep compassion really, really for the people that she had cared for, mainly the migrant workers," he added.

In a separate statement, the President lauded Ople for championing the labor movement in the Philippines.

"She dedicated her life, in every waking moment, to the welfare of laborers in general and migrant workers in particular," he said.

"She was tireless in her pursuit to always support and find protection for our workers," he added.

Ople was the daughter of the late labor leader, senator and Department of Labor secretary Blas Ople.