I was serving at the Regional Consular Office (RCO) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at Clark Field in Pampanga when I received the call. It was Toots Ople, youngest daughter and chief of staff of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, who was on the other end.

“Kapatid, ikaw daw nagleak nito?” She was referring to a front page article in the Manila Times containing sensitive information on the South China Sea. The article was based on information that only someone from the inside had access to.

“Ikaw naman kapatid,” I told her. “How can I possibly be the leak when I’ve been away from the Home Office for the past year overseeing the operations of a regional passport office that completely has no access to classified information?”

“Reporter ka kasi dati kaya your name will always be No. 1 in the list of suspects,” Toots jokingly told me. “But don’t worry, sinabi ko imposibleng may kinalaman ka.” I will always remember that conversation with Toots that took place sometime in 2003. I knew right there and then she had my back.

I would see Toots at the Home Office a few months later after Secretary Ople signed my assignment order sending me to New York for my first overseas posting. Toots was so happy for me. “Promise me, you will take Amang to New England so he would see the changing leaves of autumn,” she told me. We never got the chance to take that trip. Amang would pass away a few months later but Toots and I remained in touch and became good friends after she left DFA and joined the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

We would later get to work with Toots on a number of cases involving our overseas workers, including several that were brought to the attention of the Blas Ople Labor Policy Center (BOPC) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). Like Amang, Toots was always there for Filipinos toiling overseas. She had made it her advocacy to look after them and protect them.

We saw it in the way she responded when we asked for help in looking into the cases of Filipino oil platform workers who were being exploited and abused in the Gulf of Mexico. She was there when we asked for assistance on behalf of trafficking victims in Iraq and Kurdistan as well as kababayan caught in the middle of the conflict and pandemic in Libya. She was there closely monitoring our efforts to assist distressed kababayan in the Middle East.

When President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. chose her to head the newly created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) last year, we were among those who jumped in jubilation. We knew our overseas workers would be in very good and capable hands. She was the best choice.

This morning, we woke up to the sad and painful news of Toot’s passing. We mourn with the rest of the Filipino people, especially our overseas workers who lost their champion. Paalam, Kapatid. You can rest knowing there are many of us who will continue what you have started.

Milan, 22 August 2023