President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called the late migrant worker secretary Susan “Toots” Ople an “irreplaceable” champion of Filipinos abroad.
President Marcos delivered his speech during the necrological service for Ople in Malacañang’s Kalayaan Hall on Monday.
“We are told when you are an official that you cannot show emotion, that you must be stoic, and you must keep yourself to yourself. Please understand why I am emotional because we lost someone (Ople). It is a massive loss for everyone and for the Philippines,» Mr. Marcos said.
He also praised Ople’s work as the Department of Migrant Workers’ secretary, citing her hard work and dedication toward the welfare of overseas Filipino workers.
“In a few words, we understood each other because we were discussing and thinking on how to improve the condition of our OFWs and how we can help them,” he said.
On the future of the DMW, the Chief Executive said that Ople is irreplaceable and it would be hard to look for her replacement as its secretary.
“Noong una sasabihin kailangan natin siyang palitan, kailangan natin siyang – maglagay ng kapalit. Ngunit habang iniisip ko hindi na ako natutulog, iniisip ko anong kapalit? Wala na, hindi na mapapalitan si Toots,” said Mr. Marcos.
(At first we are hearing the need to replace her, but while thinking on her replacement, I cannot sleep. I ask myself on who will replace her, but Toots is irreplaceable.)
“Maghanap tayo ng kasing galing niya pero huwag na tayong umasa na mapalitan si Toots, na mag-substitute na magkakaroon ulit tayo ng Toots na ilalagay ulit natin, bibigyan natin ulit ng pagkakataon na magtrabaho. Bigyan natin ulit ng pagkakataon na makatulong sa kanyang kapwa Pilipino,” he added.
(We’re going to look for someone as good as her, but we should stop hoping that we can have another Toots in the position. We’re going to give her substitute the chance to prove themselves and a chance to help the Filipino people.)
The Chief Executive vowed to honor the life of Ople by continuing her mission to protect and uplift the lives of OFWs.
“That’s why I think that we should honor Toots and remember what is it that she worked all her life for? What was the most important thing to her? We all know what that is: we must continue that work, we must honor her memory, we must honor the work that she did before,” said the President.
Ople’s daughter expressed her gratitude towards the President for allowing her mother to serve as the DMW chief.
Mr. Marcos named Ople as the head of DMW, the country’s newest department dedicated in aiding Filipinos living and working overseas.
Ople, 61, died on August 22 after a bout with breast cancer.
She openly told the public of her battle against cancer, in which she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer back in 2019.