The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will never cease to empower and uphold the dignity of social workers by ensuring that their voices are always heard — not only in steering the agency’s services to the public, but in initiatives that honor and pay tribute to their noble profession.
Secretary Rex Gatchalian emphasized this on Thursday (June 5) during the consultation dialogue with social workers from various local organizations and associations held at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City.
“We, as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, want nothing but to empower our social workers — within the Department and beyond. In everything we do, that’s been my mission here since day one,” the DSWD chief said when asked if he would be willing to advocate for the upcoming Filipino Social Workers’ Day on June 19.
As soon as he entered the DSWD office in February 1, 2023, Secretary Gatchalian said he wanted social workers to feel that more than words, he is ready to carry into actions his solidarity with the community.
“You can ask how we run things here in every department and every cluster. Since I joined, we have always strived that every program is of the social workers, by the social workers and executed by the social workers,” Secretary Gatchalian said.
This sharp focus led to the revitalization of the agency-led learning institution, which was one of his priority agenda.
It was the first time that the 55-year old facility of the DSWD Academy was renovated and given focus to expand its curriculum, elevating its capacity as the premier learning center for registered social workers and paraprofessionals.
“When I first met with all of you, we spoke about how we can institutionalize things at the DSWD Academy. Words are very easy but it’s the passion we brought in for the past two and a half years,” the DSWD chief told the participants, reminiscing about his early months in the Department.
The DSWD is also continuously coordinating with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to push for more plantilla positions for the job security of its employees, especially those who are under contracts of service (COS) and job orders (JOs) and have been with the Department for a long time.
The DSWD has so far converted a total of 6,135 contract of service (COS) to contractual employees from the time the DSWD chief was appointed as the Secretary.
“I will definitely advocate even beyond June 19. I have been advocating it from Day One, not just by flowery words or by opening statements, but by actually putting my money where my mouth is,” the DSWD Secretary explained.
Secretary Gatchalian was grateful for having the chance to magnify his support to the community, and address their concerns on the case of ”Rose,” the woman in street situation who was photographed crawling out of a drainage in Makati City.
The DSWD chief seized the chance to expound on the story of Rose, along with Undersecretary Denise Bernos-Bragas and Asst. Secretary Janet Armas of the Regulatory Services and Institutional Development (RSIDG) and social workers who handled the case led by Director Marilyn Moral of the Pag-abot Program
Director Moral assured her fellow social workers in the private sector that Rose, like any other cases reached out by the Pag-abot program, have undergone rigorous assessment.
Contrary to the public sentiments that Rose was given livelihood support abruptly and arbitrarily, Director Moral explained that the DSWD already profiled before she went viral.
“The story of Rose, hindi lang nagsimula sa paglabas lang niya sa sewage. The process of Pag-abot is being done 24 hours, 7 days a week. So the first engagement happened on May 13, when we did the profiling already before she even went viral. Marami po tayong pinupuntahan sa buong kamaynilaan po, halos 24 hours pong nagiikot, nag-rerefer ang ating mga social workers. And one of them is Rose when we had our first engagement with her,” Director Moral told participants.
While Rose had initial hesitation to be reached out during her May 13 encounter with the DSWD, the second time she was convinced in the aftermath of her viral photographs eventually pushed through.
“So ang ginagawa namin binabalikan at binabalikan until such time that they understand and realize that we are here to help. So again, Rose was interviewed, May 13, ilang oras yan, ilang oras ang ginugol ng mga social worker natin just to get the information about Rose and her partner. Nagkataon lang na nag-viral siya nung May 28, but we’ve been looking for her already several times kasi hindi yan binibitawan eh like any other cases of pag-abot nationwide,” Director Marilyn pointed out.
Director Moral said the prior profiling of Rose helped the agency to act fast and give a livelihood aid based on the range of allowable assistance stipulated in the guidelines of the Pag-abot program.
Father Arnold Abelardo, the National President of the Area-Based Standards Network (ABSNet) was among representatives who appreciated the agency’s move to convene everyone to contextualize everything.
“Sa parte ko po sana ipagpatuloy niyo ang iyong magandang gawain. You were given a mandate by President Marcos, ipagpatuloy niyo lang po at sa parte namin we will continue to work with you kung saan mang lugar yung mga mahihirap na yan anumang lugar, para po maipagpatuloy natin yung paglilingkod,” Fr. Abelardo said.
Fr. Abelardo happily welcomed the dialogue as an opportunity to build on constructive discussions and shed light as to where every side is coming from.
“So yun lamang po ang aking mensahe because I don’t want you to be affected and then all the social workers na kasama natin because of that incident, which is more para sa akin, ay isang malaking tapik sa balikat na ginawa niyo kay Rose to encourage her because of her goodness and because of her compassion,” Fr. Abelardo said.
The other social workers’ associations that attended the dialogue through their respective representatives were the National Council for Social Development (NCSD); Association of Child Caring Agencies of the Philippines (ACCAP); Philippine Association of Court Social Workers, Inc. (PACSWI); DOH (Department of Health) League of Medical Social Workers, Inc.; and the National Association of Social Work Education, Inc. (NASWEI).
The groups that joined the meeting via online were the Association of Local Social Welfare and Development Officers of the Philippines Incorporated (ALSWDOPI); Association of Medical Social Workers of the Philippines, Inc. (AMSWPI); and the Association of DSWD Social Workers, Inc. (ADSWI).(LSJ)