Susan Ople (1962-2023)

Maria Susana Ople served as secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from June 2022 to August 2023.

A longtime advocate for overseas Filipino workers, the 61-year-old Ople died on August 22, 2023. She had been a breast cancer survivor, and one of the programs she had wanted to pursue was a cancer fund for OFWs.

Ople started to be deeply immersed in migrant workers’ issues when she became the chief of staff of her father, Blas Ople, then-foreign secretary during the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration from 2002 to 2003. Blas was also labor secretary of Marcos’ father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and Senate president during the Joseph Estrada administration. Ople herself ran for the Senate in the 2010 and 2016 elections but was unable to win a seat.

In 2004, Arroyo appointed Ople as labor undersecretary, a position she held until 2009. Also in 2004, Ople founded the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nongovernment organization focusing on OFW welfare. Upon her death, the organization paid tribute to “a remarkable individual” whose “passion for social justice and unwavering commitment to migrant workers rights made a profound impact on our society.”