President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conferred the Order of Lakandula with the Rank of Grand Cross (Bayani) on the late Maria Susana “Toots” V. Ople, recognizing her decades-long work advancing the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers and their families.
The posthumous honor was bestowed at Malacañang Palace on December 30, 2025, during rites marking Rizal Day and the fourth anniversary of the Department of Migrant Workers.
In remarks delivered during the ceremony, Marcos said Ople’s influence continues to shape the country’s protection systems for Filipinos abroad. “No Filipino should ever be left behind, ignored, or forgotten,” he said, adding that her work was driven by dignity and patriotism rather than the value of remittances alone. He also described her as “one of the best people I have ever met,” and said today’s safeguards for OFWs rest on foundations she built.
Accepting the decoration for the family, Ople’s daughter Susanne Laurie Estelle Ople Osorio thanked the President for honoring her mother’s service. “All that my mother did was, at its core, a labor of love,” she said, recalling a life devoted—inside and outside government—to ensuring Filipino workers never felt abandoned, regardless of distance from home.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the conferment secures Ople’s contributions within the nation’s historical record. “Her heroism, her patriotism, are all offered to the ages for countless generations and for all time,” he said. “Sec. Toots will always be our pillar of strength, our beacon of hope, our pride and joy,” Cacdac added, citing her leadership in perilous missions and policy work alike.
Cacdac also credited Ople with pushing institutional reforms, including stronger repatriation mechanisms, tighter inter-agency coordination, and a rights-based framework for labor migration that placed OFWs and their families at the center of policy.
OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne “PY” M. Caunan said Ople consistently put substance over status. “Her leadership was never about titles. It was about lives protected and dignity upheld,” Caunan said, noting Ople’s view of OFWs as Bagong Bayani whose families warranted equal care.
Ople, who died on Aug. 22, 2023, served as the first confirmed secretary of the DMW, guiding the young agency toward its role as the “Tahanan ng OFW.” Her tenure saw the negotiation of multiple bilateral labor agreements centered on worker protection, expanded government-to-government cooperation, and strengthened responses to abuse, illegal recruitment, and human trafficking. She also led evacuations from conflict areas, including Sudan, and earlier assistance efforts in the Middle East and North Africa, while pursuing settlements of unpaid wages and negotiating to safeguard the jobs of Filipino seafarers with European shipowners.
The Order of Lakandula is among the country’s highest civilian honors for political and civic merit; the Grand Cross (Bayani) is reserved for individuals whose leadership, bravery, and service are deemed exemplary and worthy of emulation.
