Emotional Marcos says Toots Ople ‘irreplaceable’

President Ferdinand  "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Monday that the late Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople is irreplaceable.

Marcos mentioned this in his message during the necrological service for Ople, which was held at the Kalayaan Hall of Malacañang Palace. The President said the Philippines could find someone who is as skilled like Ople, but Marcos insisted that the late DMW chief could never be replaced.

"Iniisip kaagad namin, papano ngayon 'yung naiwang trabaho ni Toots, sino ang gagawa niyan? Noong una sasabihin kailangan natin siyang palitan, kailangan nating maglagay ng kapalit ngunit habang iniisip ko, hindi na ko natutulog, anong kapalit... wala, hindi na mapapalitan si Toots," Marcos said.

(We've been thinking how's the work that the Secretary had left behind, who will do that? At first, we might say that we need to replace her, but I've been thinking, we cannot replace her.)

"Maghanap tayo ng kasing-galing niya pero huwag na tayong umasa na mapalitan si Toots... na substitute na magkakaroon ulit tayo ng Toots na ilalagay ulit natin, bibigyan ulit natin ng pagkakataong magtrabaho, bibigyan ulit natin ng pagkakataon na makatulong sa kaniyang kapwa Pilipino," he added.

(We might find someone as skilled as her but we can't replace her, a substitute, another Toots whom we will appoint and whom we will give a chance to serve Filipinos.)

Big gap

The President turned emotional during the necrological service, lamenting that Ople's sudden demise will leave a big gap in the country.

"If I do shed a tear, it is because it is such a sad day to know, it is such a sad bit of knowledge to know that Toots will not be here anymore," Marcos said.

"What a big gap she will leave, not only to her friends, not only to her family, but to the millions who she took care of, who she loved, and who she worked for tirelessly and endlessly," he added.

Marcos recalled that he has known Ople for a long time and that the latter occupies an important part of his life as a friend and as a colleague. He said he had worked with Ople in public service.

"You will understand my emotion, you will understand the great sense of loss that we are feeling and if I shed a tear, it's because I feel sorry, I do not feel sorry for Toots because after her heart beats its last, her soul went immediately to heaven. And for that I have no doubt," Marcos said.

"I feel sorry for us, her friends, her family, because we've lost a wonderful person, a wonderful friend. I feel sorry for the [Filipinos] who are living and working abroad because they lost the best champion they ever had," he added.

Marcos further encouraged the public to continue Ople's work in serving the public.

"We must honor her memory, we must honor the work that she did before," the President said.

In response, Ople's daughter, Estelle Osorio, thanked the President for giving her mother the opportunity to serve the country.

"On behalf of the Ople family, Mr. President, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts because you allow my mom to live her mission, by trusting her with a position despite her illness," Osorio said.

"She told us po na she wanted to serve you at least until December, she said that if she's given that time by the Lord, she feels that it would be enough to set the ground work for the Department of Migrant Workers so that whoever will succeed her will not have a hard time," she added.

Ople died last Tuesday, August 22. She was 61.

In late July, Ople took a wellness break to grieve the passing of her two elder brothers, ex-Hagonoy mayor Felix "Toti" Ople and former journalist, Blas Ople Jr., who both succumbed to lung cancer. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News