Searching For The Next Blas Ople

His role on the Erap Impeachment Trial notwithstanding, Blas Ople can be considered one of the most respected and accomplished politicians in the history of the Philippines.  He championed the rights of the common man - the Filipino worker.  Ople's most enduring role was his nineteen years as Secretary (later Minister) of Labor and Employment during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, when Philippine labor laws were overhauled through the enactment of the Labor Code of the Philippines that he had helped author.

In 1953, he joined the Magsaysay-for-President Movement, a volunteer group supporting the presidential campaign of Ramon Magsaysay, heading its Executive Planning Committee and working as a speechwriter for candidates of the Nacionalista Party. After Magsaysay's election, he joined the government as special assistant to the Secretary of Labor and technical assistant on labor and agrarian affairs.

In 1965, Ople was appointed as Social Security Commissioner by Marcos. He was later appointed Secretary of Labor and Employment (this position was later renamed Minister of Labor and Employment). He resigned briefly in 1971 to run an unsuccessful campaign for election to the Philippine Senate, but was re-appointed to his post in 1972, retaining the position until 1986.

As Labor Secretary, Ople was instrumental in the framing of the Labor Code of the Philippines, which codified the labor laws of the country and introduced innovations such as prohibiting the termination of workers without legal cause. Ople instituted labor policies institutionalizing the technical education of workers. In 1976, Ople initiated a program for the overseas employment of Filipino workers. It was during his tenure at Labor that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration were created. Ople obtained recognition from the International Labor Organization during his stint as Labor Minister. In 1975, he was elected president of the 60th general assembly of the ILO, the first Filipino to hold that post. In 1983, that organization awarded Ople a Gold Medal of Appreciation. He was a close adviser of President Marcos, though he was not later to be associated with the corruption of Marcos's government and was perceived as "not corrupt".

In today's Philippines, Filipino workers have practically no chance to advance in the corporate world.  In most shopping malls, for instance, contractual workers are hired for a maximum of five or six months and then let go.   In effect, a big majority of them will have 3 pages of resume in less than 3 years if they are lucky enough to find replacement jobs in no time.

Originally meant to lure foreign investors and although already in place for quite some time, this contractual system started to gain acceptance about 18 to 20 years ago (Ople no longer held his popular position).  However, most of the international manufacturing companies value their employees and were simply happy with paying lower than average wages.  Shopping malls and grocery stores, big and small, and other local companies like PLDT, MERALCO (now part of PLDT), San Miguel Corporation, etc. were the ones taking advantage.

The long term effects are not so encouraging for the common Filipino.  It only resonates the evil of Capitalism: The poor becoming poorer and the rich, richer.  Short sited businessmen, having little regard for the workforce, sit on their laurels with their billions.  Like horses with blinders on, they only see one way.  The irony is that the comman man makes them rich for what really drives the Philippine economy,  Agriculture? Manufacturing? Oil? Overseas Workers? or the Filipino consumers, themselves?  The answer is obvious.  If only the businessmen can understand the Cycle of Life, they will bring more power to the common men.  And the Philippines should be a much better place to live in.  With no hope of that happening, the search is on for the new man for the common man.


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