DMW chief Toots Ople dies at 61

CNN Philippines

Migrant Workers Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople passed away this afternoon at the age of 61 surrounded by her family and loved ones.  Senior correspondent Gerg Cahiles looks back at Ople's legacy as a champion of workers and OFW rights.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 The best heroes are the people you love the most.

00:03 The best life is the one devoted to principles that you believe in and are prepared to fight

00:11 for.

00:12 Susan Ople devoted her whole life to fighting for laborers and overseas Filipino workers.

00:18 It was her father, the late Senate President and Foreign Affairs Secretary, Blas Ople,

00:24 who inspired her to pursue that love.

00:27 In honor of him, she built the Blas Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization assisting

00:33 returning OFWs.

00:36 She also followed her father's footsteps as a writer, advocate, and public servant.

00:43 And when she took the helm of the fledgling Migrant Workers Department, her first priority

00:47 was to launch a command center for distressed OFWs.

00:50 "When I was the head of my own NGO, we would experience that.

00:57 They would come from the province, their children are being forced to work or they are being

01:06 forced to work.

01:07 In some cases, they don't know if they are alive or dead because they can't talk.

01:13 I see the need that the burden of our parents or our brothers, our workers abroad, should

01:23 not be added."

01:24 Ople was Labor Undersecretary in 2004, during the Arroyo administration.

01:30 She unsuccessfully ran a center in 2010 and 2016.

01:35 She went on a two-week wellness leave in late July this year, after her two older brothers

01:40 died.

01:42 Then on Tuesday afternoon, Ople herself bid farewell, surrounded by family and loved ones.

01:49 The DMW has yet to disclose the cause of her death, but in 2020, Ople revealed she was

01:55 diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery.

01:59 President Bongbong Marco says the Philippines lost a friend.

02:03 "She very much followed in the tradition of Cablas Ople, of excellence, of compassion.

02:12 It is a great loss for all of us."

02:16 While the DMW asks for prayers for the eternal repose of the leader, it lost too soon.

02:24 George Cahiles, CNN Philippines.

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