Blas F. Ople
SENATOR Blas F. Ople was born on February 3, 1927 in Hagonoy, Bulacan, to working-class parents. His father, Felix Antonio Ople was a craftsman who repaired boats while his mother, Segundina Fajardo, was a simple housewife. The young Ople graduated valedictorian at the Hagonoy Elementary School.
Ople fought in the Second World War as a teenage officer of the Del Pilar Regimet, Bulacan Military Area. He also fought under the BMA’s Buenavista Regiment until the capture of General Yamashita in 1945.
After finishing high school at FEU in 1948, he studied Liberal Arts at UP and MLQU University. He graduated with Liberal Arts degree at the Educational Center of Asia (formerly Quezon College) in Manila.
Looking for the so-called greener pasture, the hardworking Bulakeño applied for a job at the Manila Times – Daily Mirror publications where he was hired on the spot as desk editor of the Daily Mirror. He did this on the basis of an instant rewrite test which he passed with flying colors.
As journalist, Ople was considered as one of the youngest columnist in that golden era of journalism. He wrote the light and breezy column, “Jeepney Tales" for the Daily Mirror, sister publication of the old Manila Times.
Aside from the flourishing journalistic career, he also headed the Blas F. Ople Associates, a public relations consulting firm.
He was co-founder and executive vice chairman of the National Progress Movement or Kilusang Makabansa, which raised issues on nationalism and social justice in the late 1950s. he wrote political and social commentaries for print media.
In 1963, he headed the Executive Planning Group of Magsaysay-for-President Movement. He later served as technical assistant on labor and agrarian affairs to President Ramon Magsaysay and concurrently as special assistant to the late Labor Secretary Terry Adevoso.
Ople taught as a professor lecturer at UP on Philippine institutions (Rizal studies) and at the Philippine College of Commerce, now the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
In 1967, he became assistant to the President of the Philippines and commissioner of the Social Security System
On September 16, 1967, he was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos as labor secretary. He ran for the Senate in 1971 under the banner of the Nacionalista Party but lost.
Ople was reappointed as labor secretary on May 2, 1972.
He was considered
as the “ Father
of the Labor
Code ,” which
was signed into
law by President
Marcos in 1974.
The book
codified all
labor and social
regulations in
the country. He
also fathered
the National
Manpower and
Youth Council
(now TESDA) to
carry out the
training program
for skilled
workers. Ople
initiated in
1976 the
overseas
employment
program which
has since a
major prop of
the Philippine
economy. The
program
generated
employment for
the estimated
four to seven
million Filipino
workers overseas
which remitted
an estimated US
$7 billion.
To further
assist the
country’s
overseas
workforce, he
created the
Philippine
Overseas
Employment
Administration,
the Overseas
Workers Welfare
Administration,
and the
Philippine Labor
attache corps to
carry out the
overseas
employment
program.
In 1975, he was elected president of the 60th general assembly of the International Labor Organization, the first and only Filipino to hold that post.
In 1983, Ople
was recipient of
a Gold Medal of
Appreciation
from the ILO for
his
contributions to
social justice
both in his
country and in
the
international
community.
In April 1978,
he topped the
elections for
the National
Assembly
representing his
home region of
Central Luzon,
consisting of
Bulacan,
Pampanga,
Tarlac, Nueva
Ecija, Bataan
and Zambales.
He was reelected to the regular Batasang Pambansa representing his home province of Bulacan in 1984.
In May 1985, he was appointed by president Corazon Aquino as member of the opposition to serve in the Constitutional Commission of 1986. His performance as one of the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution was considered outstanding.
He served as chairman of the institution for Public Policy, a policy research institute.
In 1992, Ople ran for the Senate under the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and won, placing No. 11 in the 24-man winning slate. He served for six years with his co-winners in the top 12. The lower 12 served for three years. He was elected Senate President Pro Tempore in October 1996. He was reelected in same post July 1997.
In 1998, he ran for reelection under the ticket of the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino and won, placing seventh.
In the Senate, he chaired the Senate foreign relations committee and
served as a member of the Commission on Appointments. He became
acting Senate President with the resignation and death of Senate
President Marcelo Fernan. In July 26, 1999 he was elected by his
colleagues as the President of the Senate and served until July 12,
2000.
As a writer, he authored the following books: Frontier of Social
Policy, Workers, Managers, Elites. The Human Spectrum of
Development, The Freedom to Achieve, Global but Parochial, the
Philippines and the World, and Windows to a Changing World.
As a columnist, he wrote columns for various newspapers - Horizons, Manila Bulletin, Windows, Panorama Magazine, Interface Graphic Magazine and Balintataw Balita.
He is married to Susana Vasquez. They have seven children.