Department of Migrant Workers Request to Retain Atty. Abdullah Mama-o

In the days leading up to President-elect Bongbong Marcos Junior officially being seated as the President of the Philippines, he has made several announcements as to who he wanted to lead the different Departments that make up his government. One such announcement was for the Department of Migrant Workers and he chose the late Senator Blas Ople’s daughter, Susan ‘Toots” Tolentino, to handle the newly created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

 This was not met with open arms by the people in the Department of Migrant Workers. In fact, they feel that Susan 'Toots" Tolentino is not someone that has the best interest of the OFW's at heart. 

Unified Migrant Workers Global representatives: L-R: Mr. Robert Picasso, Mr. Ken Bautista, Mr. Ferdinand De Los Reyes, Ms. Gomez, and Mr. Ramon Sta.Maria.

The Department of Migrant Workers was just established three months ago and acting Secretary Atty. Abdullah Mama-o because in just a short time, he was able to repatriate distressed OFWs in the Middle East and has helped domestic helpers as well.

With the announcement of Toots Ople replacing Atty. Mama-o, they feel that all of their initial hard work will be put to waste. They are now requesting 15 minutes of audience time with the incoming President Bongbong Marcos Junior. ” We know that he is busy now going through all the process of transition but we appeal to him to hear our plea”, said Ken Bautista, VP for Unified Migrant Workers Global. ” 15 minutes is all the time we are requesting from him”.

Toots Ople is not new to the sector she has been tasked to serve. Toots Ople advocates migrant workers’ rights and was a labor undersecretary under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presidency. However, the Unified Migrant Workers Global representative does not believe that she has done something worthy of note during her time and now that she is not 100% in condition because of her illness, they feel that she won't be able to do her job to full capacity. 

Do you agree? Do you think that it's best to leave Atty. Mama-o as the head or should the Unified Migrant Workers Global representatives trust in the choices being made by the incoming President? 

Let us know your thoughts down below. 

You can also watch a snippet of our interview with them here.