PRESIDENT FERDINAND Marcos, Jr. bestowed one of the highest senior honors on the late migrant workers secretary and Artlets alumna Maria Susana “Toots” Vasquez Ople, citing her dedication to promote the welfare and uphold the dignity of Filipinos overseas.
Ople was posthumously bestowed the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) in a ceremony held on Monday, Dec. 30 at Malacañang.
The award was created in 2003 through Executive Order No. 236 to honor Datu Lakandula’s exemplary service to his people.
The rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) is awarded to an individual who has devoted his or her life to the peaceful resolution of conflict or whose life is worthy of emulation. It is also conferred on a crown prince, vice president, Senate president, speaker of the House, chief justice or an official with equivalent ranks as well as a foreign minister or a person of Cabinet rank, ambassador, undersecretary, assistant secretary, or an individual carrying a similar title.
Marcos lauded the late Thomasian’s leadership and commitment to the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“Amid her (Ople) own struggles, she never turned her back on her duty to the nation. She fought as long as she could and served until the end,” the President said.
“She knew the sand in her hourglass was beginning to run low, yet she gave what little time she had left to ensure that our Filipino migrant workers would continue to be protected, even after she is gone,” he added.
Ople, the daughter of the late senator and labor secretary Blas Ople, earned her degree in Communication Arts at UST in 1985 before entering public service. She served as secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) from June 30, 2022 until her passing on Aug. 22, 2023, at the age of 61 due to breast cancer.
Ople’s stint as migrant workers chief was marked by the expansion of international protections for OFWs, having led the Philippines’ forging of 42 bilateral labor agreements with 25 countries.
She was also instrumental in establishing the One Repatriation Command Center and the OFW Hospital and the launching of the DMW Mobile Application and OFW Pass.
Ople was also the first Filipino to serve on the Board of Trustees of the United Nations’ Trust Fund for Victims of Human Rights Trafficking.
Marcos said Ople’s accomplishments continue to benefit OFWs even after her death.
“In many ways, it could be said that all of us who are doing any kind of work for OFWs around the world are only following the structures laid out, she started all of this…Everything that we are doing now, all of the successes that you see, she laid the groundwork for that,” he said.
Marcos also likened Ople to national hero Jose Rizal in terms of patriotism, saying her leadership style was defined by empathy, expertise, and moral clarity.
“Her position is resolute: we must guarantee that every Filipino worker overseas is treated humanely and justly,” he added.
The President called on Filipinos to serve with the same passion, integrity and drive that defined Ople’s “well-lived” life.
The conferment ceremony at Kalayaan Hall was attended by members of the Ople family and various government officials.
The event coincided with Rizal Day and DMW’s fourth founding anniversary. F – Yimrhaq Mariano
