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TODAY, Dec. 14, is the 12th death anniversary of Senate President Blas F. Ople, the father of the Labor Code. Born on Feb. 3, 1927, Ople served as the labor minister during the Marcos administration and framed the country’s labor code. He also initiated the National Manpower and Youth Council (now Tesda) to carry out training programs for skilled workers and created the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Philippine Labor attaché corps to assist the country’s overseas workforce. In 1975, he was elected president of the 60th general assembly of the International Labor Organization, the first and only Filipino to hold that post. He was elected to the Senate in 1992 and reelected in 1998. He served as Senate President in 1999. Ople died in 2003 at the age of 76. Marielle Medina, Inquirer Research