Remembering Blas Ople
- History, Leaders, OFWs, Outstanding Men -
By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Family, friends, and former colleagues of the late Senator Blas Ople gathered for a mass at the Libingan ng mga Bayani [Heroes’ Cemetery] in celebration of his 82nd birthday.
Ople served for nearly two decades and created the overseas employment program in the early 70’s, and then the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, with the last earning for him the distinction of being the “father of overseas employment.”
Continuing the legacy of her father, Susan Ople, president of Blas F. Ople Policy Center, is helping overseas Filipino workers by strengthening the programs designed by the government for them.
“He is a mentoring type of father and we grew up knowing the country first,” said Ople as she described what her father was like.
