Susan Ople

Susan "Toots" Ople (born February 9, 1962)is a Filipino labor leader who is an advocate of Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFW) rights. She also served as undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Early life

Susan Ople was born on February 9, 1962, the youngest of the seven children of Blas F. Ople and Susana Vasquez. Her father served as Labor Secretary/Minister during the Marcos regime.

She finished elementary education at the St. Theresa’s College Quezon City in 1974 and finished secondary education at the Sandersky High School in Michigan, USA in 1980. She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with the course of AB Communication in 1984. She took up her Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 1999 and received the Josephine Vernon Award for Excellence in Communication.

Public service career

Susan Ople served as chief of staff of the Office of her father Senator Blas Ople and later as chief of staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs when her father became its Secretary. In 2004, she was appointed as Undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She then ran for Senator in the 2010 Philippine Elections, but lost.

OFW Rights Advocate

Susan Ople is the founder and president of the Blas Ople Policy Center (BOPC) which assist distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) in various parts of the world. To promote her advocacy, Ople co-anchors the popular daily radio show “Bantay OFW” at DZXL’s Tatak RMN network. She also has a Saturday radio program on DWIZ 882 AM called “Global Pinoy”. Ople also assisted thousands of people through the Tulay Program, a computer literacy program for OFWs organized by DOLE and funded by Microsoft.

Ople is currently running again for Senator under the Nacionalista Party in the 2016 Philippine Elections. She plans to pass laws that would help advance the welfare of OFWs while at the same time highlighting key issues that affect them today.