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| President Marcos hands over the Lakandula medal to Ople's daughter Estelle |
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has posthumously conferred the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) on the late former Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople at Malacanang Palace on Dec. 30.
The conferment honors were held more than two years
after Secretary Ople succumbed to cancer at age 61 while still serving as the
DMW’s secretary.
Receiving the posthumous
award were her family members led by her daughter, Estelle Ople Osorio.
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“In many ways it
could be said that all of us who are doing any kind of work for overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs) around the world are only following the instructions
she laid out,” President Marcos said in his speech.
“She was the one
who started it all. Everything that we are doing now, all of the successes that
you see, she laid the groundwork for that.”
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| Toots Ople died after serving as DMW Secretary for just over a year |
Ople, daughter of the late senator and former Labor Secretary Blas Ople, served as undersecretary for labor from 2004 to 2009, during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
When she left
public office, she founded the Blas Ople Foundation which focused on helping
distressed OFWs all over the world.
She ran as
senator in the same ticket as President Marcos in the general elections in 2010,
but lost. Shortly after he took over as president in 2022, Mr. Marcos named Ople as secretary
of the newly formed DMW.
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Mr Marcos said
that under Ople’s leadership, the Philippines entered into 42 bilateral agreements
with 25 countries, all aimed at protecting OFWs.
The agreements,
he said, “were based on the firm belief that Filipino workers deserve
protection, they deserve fairness, and they deserve respect, wherever they may
be anywhere in the world.”
Ople is also credited with setting up the One Repatriation Command Center, the OFW Hospital, the DMW Mobile Application and OFW Pass.
She was also known for her firm
advocacy against illegal recruitment and the trafficking of Filipino workers
abroad.
“More than two
years since her passing, her work remains in the policies that she shaped and
in the everyday systems that protect our overseas workers,” Mr Marcos said.
The Order of
Lakandula, one of the nation’s three senior honors, is awarded for political and
civic excellence in recognition of leadership, bravery and service to the
country.
