That Juan DelaCruz especially drawn by the owner of the blog The Sandboxfor PEBA reminds me always of the responsibility we all have to our country, to our fellowmen.
He said we can do all we want to that image, but just don't remove or change the thumb inked with red color because that is his stand in the coming election. Me and Azel for PEBA didn't removed that.
We respect the man.
I was also honestly touched.
What is my stand? Do I have to make a stand?
What difference will I make if I state my stand?
So I asked Nebz, PEBA's winner for this year, and an OFW advocate to draft his thoughts and expectations for the coming election. He made the flash images. Then I ask CM of the Dungeon (Palau) and George of Palipasan (Qatar), and Rio of Bisjoker (Afghanistan)the men behind KABLOGS. I also ask NJ, and the Pink Tarha Girls (Saudi bloggers).
This compilation of thoughts and ideas, serves as the Voice of KABLOGS and PEBA for this coming election.
"Let the new leaders of our land rise from the votes of the OFWs"
Now, the time has come to unleash the heroes within us as the majestic sun rises in the East and its rays of hope shines upon our nation this coming May 2010 election.
This is a call for our collective voice in the 2010 election. We encourage all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families to actively participate and be part of our country’s historic electoral process.
For several years, we’ve made our presence felt in building our nation. In every single dollar remittance that is being delivered in our family’s doorsteps, we OFWs have helped in sustaining the Philippines’ economic growth.
Our experiences in and out the country have led us to become seasoned professionals who are now politically mature to discern what’s best for our home country. Now is the moment to make a difference. We are part of the 12 million Filipinos dispersed across the world and we can definitely make a difference.
r our country. We will influence our family and loved ones back home, the recipient of our hardships and struggles abroad, to act too. We will guide them in making their choices this coming May 2010because we believe that their actions will not only shape our country’s future but the future of the generations to come.
Our nation has suffered from the action (and inaction) of irresponsible and corrupt government officials but we must remain steadfast in our hope and desire of having a better country. Our nation is already battered and divided. This coming election, its fate resides in US.
If there is a time to live as modern day heroes, to make a difference as global Filipinos, to embark on something worth doing, IT IS NOW!
Let us empower ourselves as OFWs. With one voice and one heart, let's vote and get counted! Only responsible voters can bring responsible leaders in office on May 2010.
Let the new leaders of our land rise from the votes of OFWs.
I am asking other OFW and Bloggers to please repost this in your blogs, or send it through email to your friends and families. Thank you. - Mr. Thoughtskoto
• She served in the Senate in 1987 as a staff of Senator Ernesto Herrera. Her first job was as a researcher before she was promoted to media relations officer, mainly because of her excellent writing and networking skills.
• In 1989, the Citizens’ DrugWatch Foundation was created with Herrera as president and Susan as executive director. The Foundation raised funds for the establishment of rehab facilities in Manila and other parts of the country. It also created awareness about the insidious effects of a drug known in the streets as “shabu”. Her work in the Citizens’ DrugWatch led her to author her first book entitled, “Hugs, Not Drugs.”
• In 1992, her father, Blas F. Ople of Hagonoy, Bulacan was elected Senator.
• From 1992 until 1998, Susan worked diligently beside and for her father, helping him write his speeches, organizing his press conferences, and pursuing his projects that even then included helping overseas Filipino workers.
• From 1998 to 1999, Ople’s youngest daughter was accepted and studied at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, Cambridge, Boston in Massachusetts. She wrote for the school’s magazine, was tapped to write case studies by her professors, cross-enrolled in a creative writing course at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) and spearheaded a petition to prod the school to level the playing field for international students. Susan Ople graduated with a master’s degree in Public Administration and was awarded the Josephine Vernon Award for Excellence in Communications.
• Upon her return from the United States, her father once again sought her help and designated her as chief-of-staff.
• Susan became a familiar face to media, as her father’s chief writer and media liaison officer. Soon enough, she too found herself writing a column for the now defunct Philippine Post. Thereafter, she was asked to write for Manila Chronicle and Manila Times.
• All in all, Susan spent 16 years in the Senate.
• When her father was designated Foreign Affairs Secretary, he brought Susan with him again as chief of staff. It was during her stint at the DFA that Susan became deeply involved in human trafficking and OFW cases. She was also publisher of the now-defunct “Diplomatic Post” which featured the work of career foreign service officers around the world.
• Her father died with his proverbial boots on, while onboard a plane from Tokyo, Japan to Bahrain to prepare for the President’s state visit. Susan was waiting for him in Bahrain. He died mid-air, with the plane making an emergency landing in Taiwan. By then it was too late. He came home a hero, and was buried as such leaving behind an unparalleled legacy as a statesman, father of overseas employment, and father of the Philippine labor code.
• In 2004, Susan Ople was designated by the President as Undersecretary of Labor and Employment.
• It was during her time that the DoLE established a partnership with Microsoft for a computer literacy program for OFWs called, “Tulay”. Since 2004 until today, more than 14,000 Tulay scholars have crossed the digital divide as computer literate OFWs and workers. The oldest Tulay graduate is Buhay Tan, an 80-year old mother of five OFWs. She now uses Skype, Facebook, and e-mail to communicate with her children and grandchildren.
• Last year, thanks to a grant bestowed by Microsoft, Susan through the Blas F. Ople Center, was able to put up 10 new Tulay facilities in Koronadal City, Tacloban City, Tuguegarao City, Baguio City, San Fernando in Pampanga, Calamba City, Intramuros in Manila, Butuan City, Davao City and as well as in Bataan while adding 10 new computers to the Tulay Center in Hong Kong and putting up a new Tulay facility in Taipei.
• Cognizant of her writing skills, the President requested her transfer from DoLE to the Office of Communications Director where Susan headed the presidential speechwriting group. When the OCD was abolished, Susan was taken in by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as his Undersecretary. She respectfully tendered her resignation to ES Ermita on January 2006 because she was not in favor of a hasty Charter change, the kind that the administration was pushing.
• After her lengthy stint in government, Susan decided to continue her advocacy work in helping OFWs through the non-government organization that she founded in 2004, after her father’s death, known as the Blas F. Ople Policy Center. She thought of offering short courses such as "Foreign Affairs on Saturdays", "On Writing Well" and "History for Grown-ups" to enable adult learners to expand their competencies while enjoying themselves.
• She also worked as consultant and chief of staff to Senator Mar Roxas. She resigned in 2008 to focus full-time on the Tulay Program and the work of the Ople Center.
• In between all of these, Susan has written two books, numerous columns and articles, served as a bridge between the DFA/OP and families of hostage victims, Robert Tarongoy who was kidnapped in Iraq, and Angelito Nayan, who was held hostage in Afghanistan. She also served as a consultant to the International Labor Organization on women workers’ training on gender issues and labor rights. • Susan was instrumental in the rescue of 17 women trafficked to Syria, 137 bus drivers illegally deployed to Dubai, and countless other victims exploited in Malaysia and the Middle East. With the help of the Ople Center, the bus drivers were able to file complaints against their recruitment agencies which led to the cancellation of 7 licenses and the suspension of five others. The Ople Center also spearheaded the filing of the very first human trafficking case against a Singaporean based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia who has victimized over a hundred Filipino women. The second hearing on this case will be on December 28, 2009. Meanwhile, the Ople Center has stepped up its advocacy against the use of Filipino women as drug mules by international drug rings. She has been able to help a Filipino woman recruited by a Nigerian syndicate to Lima, Peru by providing her with temporary shelter and assistance. As of today, the members of the syndicate have been arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Administration (PDEA), with the help of the Filipino victim and the Ople Center.
• Aside from inheriting her father’s love for the OFWs and labor, Susan also took over her father’s column in Panorama Magazine and Tempo. She is also the host of a weekly radio program called, “Global Pinoy”, on DWIZ 880 AM, every Saturday, from 5.30 to 6.30 pm.
• Susan believes her biggest accomplishment to date is that of raising 24-year old Susanne Laurie Ople Osorio also known as Estelle. Estelle is a high school English teacher at Reedley International School in Pasig City and is a well-known debater and adjudicator.
• Clearly, the Ople legacy lives on, in his daughter, Toots.
That's me sharing OFW stories to Susan "Toots' Ople, running for Senator as guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party. I am asking all my friends, fellow bloggers, and OFW's around the world to support this wonderful, kind, and intelligent mother, and OFW advocate.
750 persons, but only two from the nominees or their representatives will be given the free pass for the dinner, if you want to have more, you'll be paying 250 pesos for each.
It is truly special. Bring all your friends and fellow bloggers, may chance silang manalo sa raffle, everybody will have the chance sa pictorial with the PEBA logos and their sponsors as backgrounds. May mga photographers, and members ng media during that night, plus Juana Change will come, along with several celebrities and officials and those directly connected or may kinalaman sa welfare ng OFW's
Maiinggit si Azel, at Yani at Rhandy nito. NJ is coming, and sa mga finalist, dalhin or papuntahin ang buong baranggay, after all, kayo po ang ihohonor sa event na ito.
I meet with Jigs and Pete kagabi. What a wonderful and talented and smart guys ang dalawang taong ito. I will be meeting lahat ng volunteers, Tuesday Night, Dec 01, 6PM sa may tapat ng FEU sa Recto, gilid ng PSBA.
Please call me if you want to volunteer. Or ask your friends if they want to.
Di man ako nakakapagcomment sa blog niyo, please know I am reading them. While the judges are visiting your blog, I don't want to make an impression to them or others kasi mga friends ko kayo lahat. Mahirap na baka mainfluence ang decision nila. I am reading your blogs. Updated ako, pero I am not making comments. Babawi ako when all this is done.
I am grateful for the many people supporting PEBA, and KABLOGS. Sometimes you have nothing left to say kaya what you will do is close you eyes, look up above, and whisper in your mind, "Thank you, God".
Anyway, akala ko mapupunta ako ng India to hire some Indian and Bangladesh people working sa planta namin, pero we postpone it ng boss ko, kasi sabi ko busy ako sa PEBA, hehehe. Of course di niya alam ang PEBA, or else baka malaman niya na hindi research ang ginagawa ko, kundi blogging, haha. Joke. Pero I'll be doing interviews and do some hiring works pag-uwi ko sa Pinas.
The bottling company we started five years ago with 6 Filipinos has grown to have at-least a million Saudi Riyal earning a month. Currently, we are expanding the size of the plant and capacity of the production to three times its current size.
I filed a resignation, pinigilan ako. I give demands, humihingi ng 6-months para maibigay lahat.
Sana nga, or else, magtatanim na lang ako ng kamoteng kahoy sa Mindanao. hehe
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Natuloy na din ang bakasyon, at last after 3 years. Kung hindi lang sa PEBA, hindi kami uuwi. hehe. Magastos eh, pero kelangan para sa mga kababayan, at para sa ikakaunlad ng KABLOGS.
We hope to be flying home sa 23rd ng gabi by Cathay Pacific via Hongkong. Hope matuloy yung get together namin as we are planning to meet the nominees here in the Eastern Province before we leave. Hope mameet din namin si Rey sa Hongkong. We are thinking to plan a trip via Qatar when we comeback. We'll see.
I am terribly busy. Namayat ako ng husto. Pero if work is pressures and stresses, PEBA is always excitements! So wait and see and tune in for more exciting PEBA when we come home with Modir NJ and others.
I've heard Bhing of Gumamela sa Paraiso is attending, so with Rio of Bizjoker, James of Poging Ilo(cano), Ruby of Travel Germany, Dexter of Pinoy OFW, and several others na hindi pa confirmed. Hope to meet you there, or your representatives. I guess ang mga nominees or their representatives will be given T-shirts and and gifts.
Anyways, kitakits tayo mga KABLOGS friends! Merry Christmas!
