Trivia about Senator Blas F. Ople
Blas F. Ople was elected to the Senate in 1992 and reelected in 1998. Previous to his term in the Senate, he was technical assistant to President Ramon Magsaysay, member of the Social Security Commission, labor secretary, member of the Batasan Pambansa (National Parliament), member of the Constitutional Commission that wrote the 1987 Philippine Constitution. His last position was as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
A former journalist, he had worked as desk man and columnist of Ihe Daily Mirror, sister publication of the ManitaTimes. He was a bilingual writer who wrote with equal facility in both English and Filipino. He was a prolific contributor to mass media and academic journals. He wrote columns for the Manila Bulletin, Panorama Magazine, Kabayan and Balita, a Tagalog daily.
He was the author of 10 books and numerous monographs.
In the Senate, he served.as president, president pro tempore, member of the Commission on Appointments and the Senate Electoral Tribunal. He chaired the Committee on Foreign Relation for many years. He had steered to approval no fewer than 37 international and bilateral treaties that opened links between the Philippines and the rest of the world in trade, investments, employments, cultural exchanges, workers protection and the environment.
In 1975, he was elected president of the international Labor Conference, the first Filipino to hold that prestigious post. He was the recognized doyen and spokesman of the world’s labor ministers. Ople’s nationalism combined a passion for conserving Filipino indigenous roots with the outlook of a global citizen who sough to enrich. the Filipino legacy from world civilization and broaden its access to the world’s common storehouse of knowledge.
He hailed from the fishing town of Hagonoy, Bulacan on February 3 1927. He died in line of duty on December 14, 2003.
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