God was in the room
Nanay Edith Langamin forwarded a text she got from Atty. Ira Pozon of the Office of the Vice-President to my mobile phone. It said that the Vice-President would like to meet with her regarding the case of her son, Jonard, who is on Saudi Arabia’s death row. The meeting was to be held Wednesday, January 4 at the Coconut Palace. “Ma’am Toots, pakisamahan po ako,” Nanay Edith said. The Blas F. Ople Center, a nonprofit organization, which I head, has been helping Nanay Edith follow-up on her son’s case since April 2011. At that time, news reporter Jeff Canoy was doing a documentary on the lives of OFWs. Jeff’’s able researcher, Cherrie Ongtengco, fetched Nanay Edith at her home in Caloocan City for that eventful morning meeting. It was 10.30...
Christmas Love
Today, my mother, Susana, my siblings as well as my daughter and I, will have lunch together at my brother’s condo unit in Quezon City. Each sub-family will bring food to share, and I am quite sure that my Kuya Bulos in Los Angeles, California and our eldest brother, Luis, who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, will call my mom on her mobile phone which will then get passed around like a box of yummy chocolates. Such happy family reunions that straddle both the virtual and non-digital worlds make the Christmas holiday season really a joy to behold. One can tell from the constant uploading and tagging of photos on Facebook that this season has been both busy and happy, celebrated the Filipino way. Today, we give thanks for the birth of our redeemer,...
Heroes
Labor Attache Nasser Mustafa is a hero. While in Libya, he fulfilled his promise to bring home two Filipino domestic workers being held against their will by their employer, deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s niece. While the Department of Foreign Affairs had enunciated its position to wait for the Libyan transition council to take over the country’s leadership, Labor Attache Mustafa worked out a bold rescue plan. What was remarkable about his feat is the modesty attached to it. An initial statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding the Philippine Embassy’s rescue mission conjured images of an elaborate and grandiose plan, citing the use of two embassy teams and a pit stop at the embassy itself. That someone even felt...
Sustainability and the act of saving lives
If you have the power to save a life, would you do it? Or do you set a limit on how much time, effort, and money you are willing to set aside before you even decide to act? That is the crux of the matter involving the creation of a technical working group to study what the administration’s policy should be when it comes to blood money involving overseas Filipino workers on death row. The decision of the Office of the President to create a technical working group to study and create guidelines on cases involving blood money stemmed from unusually high amounts being required by aggrieved families. The Department of Foreign Affairs have raised the issue of sustainability in relation to requests for blood money. But first, a definition of terms. Qisas is...
Ople Center Reactions to the Taiwan Deportation Issue
News Release Blas F. Ople Policy Center February 10, 2010 NGO calls on PH to say less and do more to show appreciation for its friendship with Taiwan Former labor undersecretary and known OFW advocate Susan Ople called on the Aquino administration to bare its plans on how to mitigate the impact of further fall-out from the ongoing row between the Philippines and Taiwan over the recent deportation of 24 Taiwanese nationals to mainland China. The daughter of the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople stressed that while the Philippine government continues to invoke its One-China policy, the fate of over 100,000 Filipino workers and their families back home hang in the balance. “Are we truly prepared to walk the talk? What is our contingency plan...
Susan “Toots” Ople
My friends call me Toots. Am the youngest of seven siblings. Our family hails from the coastal town of Hagonoy, Bulacan and we are proud of our roots. My daughter's name is Estelle and she's a brilliant debater/person. I love dogs! And I enjoy writing in the dead of the night.
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