REMEMBERING KA BLAS

IWAS the Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia when BFO (Blas F. Ople) was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs in July 2002. In 2003, he asked me to join his team in the Home Office and accordingly recommended me to President Gloria Macapagal-arroyo to be appointed Undersecretary for Special Concerns to be in charge, among others, of implementing the then recently enacted Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) Act.

Being a novel piece of legislation, implementing the OAV Act was a great challenge, but Secretary Ople was very supportive of me and the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat that I headed. We started the Secretariat in May or June 2003 and we only had two months of registration because we did not have money until the end of 2003. And yet, we were able to register around 360,000 over the course of two months.

Unfortunately, BFO passed away in December 2003 and was unable to celebrate with us the successful outcome of the overseas voting for the 2004 national elections. The maiden implementation of OAV which BFO spearheaded retains to this day the record of having the highest percentage of voter turnout at 65% (of the 360,000 registered voters).

We are remembering today the 95th birth anniversary of BFO, and I am sure we will not run out of stories and anecdotes about his greater-than-life persona and enduring legacies as a public servant.

But remembering Ka Blas is more than just recounting his achievements or reminiscing the indelible memories we had with him. We can all agree that the best way to remember Ka Blas is to continue his life’s work.

We all know that BFO was the working man’s champion.

He is the Father of the Labor Code, created what is now TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), and established the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) and OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) which are the DFA’S (Department of Foreign Affairs) partners in pursuing one of its foreign policy pillars – the protection of the rights and interests of overseas Filipinos, particularly the OFWS.

Ka Blas initiated overseas employment in 1976 in response to the economic realities back then. Forty-five years since then, the wave of overseas employment remains strong and the OFWS remain to be an important contributor to our national economy. Much of the DFA’S work is centered in protecting migrant workers, and I have had many roles where I was at the forefront of this advocacy, at times at the risk of my life and limb. I was then carrying out the legacy of BFO. I can only hope that the new Department of Migrant Workers will be able to live up to what the DFA has done all these years – and make Ka Blas proud – in protecting migrant workers.

Remembering Ka Blas is very timely now that the national elections is just a few months away. It was during BFO’S time as Secretary of Foreign Affairs that overseas voting was first implemented. This year, migrant workers will once again get the chance to elect their national leaders through the overseas voting system. There are around 1.6 million registered overseas voters, many of whom are OFWS. The working class, which has been the center of Ka Blas’ life work, will now take the center stage. We will remember Ka Blas more significantly when we hear the working man’s voice in the coming elections.