A Hundred Years of Social Work

in the Philippines:
Roots and Heritage

MA. CORAZON J. VENERACION

Introduction

t..A _s the Philippines celebrated the centennial of its declaration of

mdependence from Spain (1898-1998), so did the incorporation of the
Philippine Association of Social Workers celebrate its golden anniversary (1948-
1998). It would now be instructive to look back at the roots and manifestations
ofsocial work in the country. After all, the beginnings and historical developments
of professions are today indispensable for understanding the issues facing the
country.

Through the decades, social work has evolved not merely in terms of
simple definition or scope, but in actual forms and practice, depending on the
changes in society's political, economic, and cultural structures, as well as on
the influences that filter in from the international community.

One of the influences from the international community that came to

the Philippines is the concept of"indigenization". The term became popular in
the Philippines, as a reaction to the western educational curriculum and literature
that dominated the Philippine schools. As Frances Yasas ( 1973) once said: there
is only one way to make social work relevant -- "Indigenize".

Walton and El Nasr ( 1988) noted that the term indigenization first came
out in 1971, with the UN mandate that social interventions be made appropriate
to the host country. They say knowledge-building is a process, that consists of
stages starting from transmission, indigenization to authentization. Transmission
which occurred after World War I, is practically an imitation of western models,
presuming the universality ofsocial work concepts. But for developing countries
at least, Waldon and Nasr forsee that, there will be more authentization than
indigenization, in the synthesis of these last two stages.
 The practice of authentizing means identifying "genuine and authentic
roots in the local system which will guide future development in a mature,
relevant and original fashion. The drive to build knowledge and develop practice
models comes from within a country, "as a response to social conditions and
needs, and also to the particular patterns of economic and social development"
(Ragab, 1982: In Walton and EINsr, 1988).

In this paper, it is problematic whether "indigenization: a stage precedent

to and a term more popular than authentization, is at all necessary." To indigenize,
in contrast to authentize. means to adapt imported ideas to local needs and
conditions. Even as it addresses the criterion of appropriateness to a certain
milieu, still. the term connotes a transfer ofideas from the west, where the universal
social work knowledge began in English language. Therefore to authentize
rather than indigenize, social work local practitioners will have to depend on the
use of the native language. This our local social science theoreticians (e.g.
Filipinologists Covar and Salazar; Enriquez, though not in Filipino) have done;
but that can be hardly said of social work theoreticians.

By dewesternizing. local social workers assert their capability to break

away from the original borrowed knowledge from the West. Essential to social
development, dewesternization puts identity and consciousness at the center of
development efforts. Dewesternizing means going through a transformative
process ofempowerment and strengthening the traditional, and natural capabilities
as well as the resources of the people in a given society. In this context,
indigenization means an encounter between a native and foreign culture; and
the term denotes a research methodology, a form oftriangulation in field research.
(Veneracion, 1999)

At the core of practice in the Philippines are concepts that had already
been shaped locally in response to environmental demands and historical
experiences. This paper intends to (l) present a semantic approach to
understanding social work in the cultural and historical contexts; (2) scan four
(4) methodological frameworks in local social science theory-building and how
they can apply specifically to social work's own theory-building; (3) to review
Philippine social work heritage, as one ofconstructing social work practice models
in the academe and in media; and finally (4) to outline a framework of discourse
for social work knowledge-building, as part ofreconceptualizing social work for
the 21century.

The researcher's central task is to find the type of social work that is
backed both by a genuine and progressive theory. When practiced, the theory
should reveal itselfto be truly responsive to the needs of society and the people.

2
 In that sense, responsive means social work theory does not only convey
some solutions to the people's immediate needs; but, also it provides a perspective
of long term goals and resolutions. By sticking to this task, the researcher
furthers the people's interest. The theory then becomes a liberating instrument
for positive social change.

The success of dewesternization hinges upon the choice of

methodological theories ofresearch and development: the positivist-empiricist,
the interpretative-phenomenological and critical-trans formative. When practiced,
certain theories are limited by the way social realities are perceived, and by
extension how these realities should be responded to. Perception guiding action,
these traditions hold the social worker back from direct participation in the name
of objectivity and universality. Verifying perceptions cast doubts on the
correctness or "aptness" of the assistance that practitioners wish to provide.
(Bautista, 1985; Pease, 1991)

However, the 3"or critical theory ofsocial work advocates more action
and real involvement. It is premised on the practitioner 's appreciation for
people's critical awareness and participation in the making of social realities, a
just order and peace. The critical theory evokes the critical empowerment of
people. Thus, the critical practitioner promotes the capabilities of people to
study their own conditions, identify their own problems and solutions, and to
manage, generate and use their own resources, notwithstanding available external
assistance. (Ibid,; Johnson 1992; Devore & Schlesinger, 1987)

The social work orientation in our language

Our barangays speak of the language of helping others within and

outside of the immediate families: awa, damay, malasakit, kawanggawa,
palusong, batares, tulong. These are taal_(pure or already there) expressions of
desire or acts of helping others in varied aspects and stages of life. These are
voluntary responses to needy persons and situations, either at critical times, or
as natural patterns of community life. Social practices ofhelping manifested the
Filipino social self long before the coming to our shores of Islam, of Spanish
conquistadors and of American colonizers. Helping others was a natural thing to
do. We did not need an office, call it bureaucracy, to help others.

But the Muslim and the Spanish religious lent an institutional

meaning to the social practice. People helped .hrough the church and performed
religious, and charitable work. Among the Muslims, people are obliged to
perform zakat or sadaqcah, the giving of alms. Among the Spanish, the obras

3
pias, caja de comnidad, asilos, hospicios, Gota de Leche, orphanages, and
other religious institutions organized their charitable activities through the church
and the state bureaucracy.

When the Americans came, they sustained the institutional terms

through the religious, civic organizations (e.g., the Red Cross, Boy and Girl
Scouts, men and women's clubs) community chests and councils, and more
children's institutions, among others. They also introduced a theoretical basis
for helping, and sent government pensionados to the U.S. for studies in social
work and study tours of international civic organizations with Philippine chapters.
(For examples, sec Martinez, Escoda, Silva, Laudico, etc. in the Philippine Social
Work Encyclopedia, 1970.)

By a historical accident, relief and welfare came to be associated with

social work. Republic Act No. I, 1946 mandated the appropriation ofthe sum of
Php 1,000,000 for reliefand rehabilitation ofindigent victims ofwar (de Guzman,
I 977). This law launched the conditions for the organization ofa government
bureaucracy for material resource provision. The same law gave birth to the
simplistic understanding that social work and social welfare are one, when in fact
they are not.

Social work is only one among the many professions that work toward
people's well-being. But then images blur as in taking social welfare more as an
intervention than a goal. Even a young profession gets refined in the changing
seasons ofgrace and crisis. Social work education, the media, national and local
events, people's experiences with government and non-government
interventions, the professional association's aspirations and assertions, etc.-
all these contribute to the making of social work images.

In 1948, seven Filipina social workers, all trained abroad, marked their
group identity with the formation of a professional association in the Philippines.
The Social Securities and Exchange Commission registered them as the Philippine
Association of Social Workers, Inc. The incorporation papers refer to the
formalization of an institution. The national association's objectives were not
simply for membership solidarity and practice standardization, but also to work
for a better professional image, and more sympathetic support of and effective
action for social welfare.

But how, it may be asked, have the social workers fared in their service
to the nation? Social work as a discipline has always been part of the national
scene. Whether in the background or in the sidelines, it is attached to the
general workings of society - the relations fostered between state and civic
institutions, between the public and private sector, and the personal connections
between and among individuals.
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 From the ruins of World War II, natural and man-made disasters,
neo-colonization, economic and political upheavals, the social work profession
has cleared various paths in the mainstream of national development efforts.
However, schools ofthought and the methodology guiding teaching and practice,
have largely remained tied to Western conceptualizations.

The broad public understanding ofsocial work as a scientific discipline

has also been circumscribed. It has been taken to mean alternatively as plain
charity/religious work, applied sociology, social engineering, emergency material/
financial assistance, political tool, counter-insurgency, or social welfare, apart
from a professional service.

In my research and community extension, I have met people in far-flung

barangays who identified social workers with the "SWA", or Social Welfare
Administration, a government organization during the 50s-60s. In those times,
the SWA measured poverty response by gantas of rice and number of canned
goods for relief during disasters. As late as in the 70s, some people also called
them simply "social": for whom mothers prepared for their visits. (Foster Parents
Plan, Inc.; as told byT. Viernes, R.S.W. Bulacan). Has Philippine society moved
social work forward and identified the practitioners beyond these limited
connotations? What liberating and/or dependency clements of social work do
the public perceive?

Tensions in the Profession

But to pursue the line of social transformation within the profession is

to engage in debates and tensions emerging from the practitioners' theoretical
and methodological positions. At a time when the economic crisis hits the
nation hard and the number of people who need help grows exponentially, to
choose and to decide on direct, participative action becomes almost a professional
mandate. What are the options, ifany are there for the social work practitioners?

The meaning of social work largely depends on the social worker's

position on such issues as:

> Self-reliance vs. dependence on authoritarian leadership.

➔ Academic vs. field orientation
➔ Rural vs. urban practice.

5
 » Marginal social intervention vs. special case as target population.
> Formal education vs. folk knowledge and development education.
➔ One-shot dole-out vs. developmental (by stages) assistance
versus capability building.
» Educated social workers vs. media created "social workers".
» Professional vs. para-professional vs. volunteers training.
> Integrated vs. specialized, methods-bound practice.
» Institutional vs. community-based practice.
➔ Modem or western vs. culture-validated knowledge.

But how does one arrive at knowledge in this or that position?

Concepts and theories of personal and social change are developed in
order to facilitate and hasten the process of social transformation. These are
formulated in the process of change and as such, the process is active. The
state of knowledge in a given profession is built at a juncture of a nation's
history. Social work theory and practice, thus evolves in the encounter between
native and foreign ideas.
Diagram A

Transpormasyon ng Teorya at Praktika ng Social Work sa Konteksto ng Pagtulong sa Pilipinas

(Transformation of the Tory and Practice of Social Work in tie Contest of Helpng in the Philippines)

Tulung:.m Kawan!- 1no» PAG-AANGKIN (undigenication)

{
(helping) gawa ,ng mga lagtulong (helping)

I the/ping
others)
·1 An;ik
Ba»van
111-:
(help4n;;
Propesyon: Social
(Profession) Work
Bagong Social Work

,people)
X tradisyon PAG-AANGKOP (adaptation)
(tradition)

KONSEPTO
(concept)

21 dantaon
PANAHON (r) (2/" century)

ago- Io dataon 1o.2»dint0n 20 d±ton

tpre I6"ertur) t6-2a century t2a cut,r

Prehistory Colonial Revolutionary Post Colonial

Decolonization
Decentralization

Dire!yon_ng_ Tulong:
Magkabilang Panig mutual)
[sang Panig Lamang (one way)
Kaalamang Propesyonal (Social Work Theory and Practice)
X Kaalamung-bayan (Folk Knowledge)

6 @ CI CDO
Dweck@pent ho:anal 20ut0
Local Theory Building

There are developments in Philippine social sciences, from which social

work's own theory building may be connected. Four of these theoretical
foundations are cited here for their contribution to the development of Filipino
analytic structures. After these four discussions, social work's own heritage of
knowledge construction will be discussed. After all, social workers also theorize
for themselves.

Developments in local theory building have gone beyond mere

indigenization. The most known and taught structures of analysis are here
compressed in four main categories: (1) Sikolohiyang Pilipino; (2) Pantayong
Pananaw sa Kasaysayan; (3) Filipinolohiya; and (4) Pandanggo sa law, sa
agham pampulitika. There four perspectives bom and grown in allied social
science disciplines contribute to the formation ofa social work theory that points
out directions beyond indigenization. As the theorists become more critical of
practice or what they do, they may come to realize that they have transcended
the limits of indigenization.

The first, sikolohiyang Pilipino, is closely identified with Enriquez

(1992), who defines sikolohiyang Pilipino as not simply a matter of translating
Filipino psychology, but by itself "the embodiment of the scientific study of
ethnicity, society, and culture of a people ... and the formal application to
psychological practice of knowledge rooted in a people's ethnic heritage and
consciousness. In sikololziyang Pilipino, culture is central. What is scientifically
valid or "true" is also culturally "appropriate."

Applying the principles of sikolohiyang Pilipino in the practice of

social work would entail, among others, the investigation ofsocial responsibility,
the values in a civil society, and the ways history and culture shape the Filipino
psyche in altruism.

Pant@yang pananaw sa kasaysayan, meanwhile, refers to the

perspectives applied to the reading and understanding of history, and, by
extension, to the national identity. According to Salazar ( 1991), there are four
kinds of perspectives that can be deduced in the reading or writing of history.
The first is the pang-kayo where the native is spoken to by the foreigner. The
second is the pang-sila, where the foreigner speaks to another foreigner. In the
pang-kami, the Filipino speaks to the foreigner (particularly if the conversation
is in English). In the fourth, the pang-tayo, the historian speaks to a fellow
Filipino. Given the pang-tayo perspective, as compared to the other perspectives,
Salazar poses an important question-for whom do we read and write history?

7
 And so the question may similarly be raised about social work
profession: For whom do social workers practice? For whom do practitioners
restructure social work theory and practice, and why? The answers to these
questions lie in the Philippine social realities that shape or ought to shape practice.
Who defines these realities have much to say regarding how social work is
defined and how the profession is practiced.

Given the proper context of Philippine social realities, Covar (1993)

alternatively uses the comparative method in his analysis of the Filipino
personality. He selects folk knowledge that describes the Filipino: Ang
pagkataong Pilipino ay tila isang banga (Manunggul). May panlabas at
panloob, at higit sa lahat may panlalim. Instead of using moder scientific
concepts, he draws out ideas from day-to-day life. In a manner comparative and
metaphorical, he thus creates clear definitions.

Paradigm: Sosyo-slkolohlya ng Pagtulong

($oclo-Psychological Dlmenslon ot Helping)

Pagkatao Transpormasyon
(personal)
(transformation)
I
Panloob tpanlabas euea!
(internal) t

/ ;ro,p,h)

Awa/Damuy Gawa: Pagtulong

torpuwoni (action. helping)
±mouth

Personal Kawang-gawa Gawaing Panlipunan so«at won)

Pamilya (help.ag other
perral
I
tam.by) Propesyonal na Komitmen/ professional {ommutmenu)
panunindigan sa (prrip!es in)
1

Propsyon
trrofeuion)

Transpormasyon:
(transformation)

Ginhawa (relief from stress)

Pagsasakapangyarihan (empowerment)
Pagbabagong-dangal (dignity)
Kamalayang mapagpalaya (Liberating principles)

8
 Dr. Covar has a lesson for social work pedagogy. He suggests that
education is most meaningful when it starts largely from our pinagmulan or
pagkakakilanlan (identity). The process of education can begin to assimilate
foreign ideas only after a clear understanding of who we are, where we are and
where we are going with what we have.

Finally, pandanggo sa law or loosely "dance with the lights" is another

metaphor ofPhilippine political dynamics. (Agpalo, 1964) We see here the public
officials and staff as the dancers who have to balance their actions with and
through the various interest groups. Political class would make it appear that
there are contests when in fact only one really controls the whole process. It is
in the pandanggo where a kingpin allows whoever he wants to, to rise or fall in
the political arena. Of course, one may also use the tinikling (bamboo dance,
simulating the birds that leap from pole to pole, with rhythm and grace) for
comparison in local, political governance.

But whichever, with these metaphors as bukambibig (oral usages;

utterances), we understand each other readily and almost completely. The dance,
as part of our culture, delivers the intricacies of the message: balance the act.
Social workers, whether in a government, non-government or people's
organization setting carefully observe steps that tread along political lines. Social
work is also political. (Veneracion, Pagtulong: Gawaing Panlipunan sa
Pamahalaang Lokal, Kasong Aralin ng Bulakan, 1998)

Heritage

Much ofsocial work theorizing occurs in schools where they are taught
and supposedly tested. In the first 25 years of social work in the Philippines, the
professionals struggled with the philosophical and scientific attributes of a
profession. However, Mendoza (1968) observed as methods-bound the
specializations produced in the West, referring to the methods ofsocial casework,
social group work and community-organization. These methods continue to be
reflected in the examination areas of the board examination (RA 4373). In the last
30 years, slowly and sparingly, Philippine social work began reconceptualizing.
Proponents argued for an integrated method of social work practice and called
for a halt to methods-specialization.

Social work intervention means an action by a social worker on behalf

of an organized group, the state or a collective, in order to identify and resolve a
personal or social need, issue or problem. To us Filipinos, an individual's problem
represents a family whose poverty is multi-dimensional. The personal

9
easily transforms to a social problem. And by and large, Mendoza configured a
set ofsix helping models, useful for helping multi-problem families. Read as role
models, these interventions consists of resource provision, mobilizing client
resources, counseling or clinical practice, intercessor-mediator, educating the
elite, and social advocacy. The configuration revolves around a set of western
practices nonetheless, which are adapted to the Philippine conditions.

To Almanzor (in an interview, 1993), the integrated model only

reflects how the Western community organization or CO was indigenized. But
then again CO practice in the Philippines has not been the monopoly of social
workers. Many other development workers have claimed it and have since
semantically evolved a kind of community organizing characterized by an
action-reflection-action process.

Still, the discussions on the interpreted concept in the local front

continued. The "transformative nature of social work" raised the concept of
help in its social, psychological and cultural dimensions. Bonifacio ( I 973 ), a
sociologist and former Dean of CSWCD, U.P., in arguing for an integrated
approach to personal and social transformation, stated:

"It is the nature of social work as a

professional discipline to address itself to broad and
complex issues encompassing the total society. The
approach utilized in the profession involves the three
levels: the individual, the group and the community.
No attempt is made to segregate the three levels.
Ideally the whole view should be gestalt approach.
The social worker is trained to develop an expertise
in the areas of intervention and prevention."

Intervention pertains to an existing problem and prevention, to an

anticipated problem or need. From the 70s and on to the 80s, here and worldwide,
the Latin American idea of social work as a liberating profession provided an
alternative exogenous source to dewesternize social work. The Latin American
"conscientizacion" contributing original concepts to social work practice, has
oriented Filipino social workers to own and develop their profession. (Resnick,
1976: Lasan in Resnick)

The Dutch "agology" or the French "animation" are proofs that

indigenization and authentization are happening world-wide. (Kendal], 1973 in
Walton & Nasr. 1988) But the terms did not gain as much entry as the Latin
American "consciousness-raising" into the vocabulary of local social workers.
Ilowever, the Filipino pagtulong is common and understandable throughout
+ (go»
U7 noonstoot zoo
most of the country's diverse ethnic communities, as a social practice. The social
work profession is validated only if practice builds upon pagtutulungan as
manifested in kinships, neighborhood and other network-support systems.
(Veneracion, 1995)

And, for Filipino social workers specially, the 1986 People Power, or
people's empowerment, became a by-word for strategizing community planning
and social service delivery.

Philippine Realities as Social Work Contexts

One primary aim of social work is "to enhance the 'social functioning'
of the individual, singly or in groups, by activities focused upon their
social relationships which constitute the interaction between man and his
environment," (de Guzman, 1971; Mendoza 1981; Palma, 2000). That is to say,
if social work intervention is to be accessed, in relation to social functioning
in the Philippines, both social work and social functioning will be defined for
the Filipinos.

The responsiveness, and therefore the effectiveness, of social work

will then depend on how closely its manifestations are suited to the contexts
wherein the people live. Thus, it is vital to be at least introduced to the current
political, economic, social and cultural conditions of society.

A short glimpse at the situation faced by the basic sectors of society,

provides the social context ofsocial work practice. The daily cost of living as of
May I 998 was pegged at P342.22 for the entire country and P4,33 l.23 for the
National Capital Region. (IBON Foundation computations based on data from
the Central bank and the National Economic Development Authority) With the
Asian economic crisis and ecological disturbances, taming inflations,
stabilizing the exchange rate, and keeping international rates require complex
solutions. Notwithstanding, it is for the social worker to be informed of
developments and to dialogue with people within and outside the profession.
Social work is focused, bounded yet related with others' efforts. Social work
intervention means a lot more when the practitioner is alert for information,
coming from local decisions, national developments, and global changes, that
relate to clientele and program.

In the labor sector, some 82,839 workers from January to July 15, 1998
were retrenched. This means that 423 workers daily have been laid off since the
beginning of the year. There was rampant contractual labor, and based on
employment patterns from 1992-1997, only one among every five workers is employed
as regular. (Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research or EILER, 1998).

11
 Open unemployment had already reached 13.3 percent (or 4.2
million) ofthe labor force as ofApril 1998 compared to I 0.4 percent for the same
period last year. This means that an average of2,781 workers joined the ranks
of the unemployed each day over the last year adding a total of more than
I million Filipinos to the 3.2 million unemployed workers of last April 1997.
(Ibid.)

Meanwhile, the situation faced by the other 60-70% of the population

is no better. Filipino farmers still cry out for land. The monopoly ofa few over
large tracts of land remain, and as the largest portion of the Filipino people are
farmers and peasants, majority ofthem are landless. Famine and food shortages
are direct results of the implementation of farm and crop land conversions into
golf courses, industrial estates and subdivisions, commercial, trading or
recreational centers. (Nortes, 1992)

According to a report from the Department of Agronomy of UP Los

Baiios (EILER), the government program that seeks to import I .35 million tons of
rice by the end of 1999 will have a most detrimental effect on 172,500 Filipino
farmers and 345,000 farm workers all over the country. The treatment ofthe labor
and agricultural sectors in the immediately preceding discussions are mere
illustrations of the situation. True, they are limited because there arc still other
sectors and sub-sectors that are perhaps in slightly better or even worse
conditions. How are these facts and figures observed in the GO or NGO local
communities?

A recent study commissioned by the United Nations Development

Programme (KMU, I 998) says that three out of five Filipinos today feel that the
current economic and ecological crises have made them poorer and less
confident about finding jobs. The study also said that the Philippines, compared
to other countries in East Asia, "has been faring poorly in the fight to reduce
poverty." The study noted there had been no significant reduction of the poor
despite government's declared policy making poverty alleviation its centerpiece
program.

All these arc simply an overview of the overall situation of the

basic sectors in Philippine society, amidst the interface ofEI Ni0o and
La Nia phenomena. These are the reality situations to which social
work practitioners must address themselves. With a
govemment framework ofpolitical slogans like Erap para sa mahirap
(Pro-poor President); Trabaho para sa Pilipino (A job for every
Filipino); Laban sa pagtaas ng presyo (anti-price increase); and,
latayo gobyerno ng masang Pilipino (The Filipino masses will
build a strong government) - social workers must help themselves
,, (2pose
UR7 woos« :o
 by examining the goveriment's political and economic recovery
agenda. Does social work fall in any of the agenda? If we are not
there, where are we, and/or why are we here instead? Why can we
not be there? Where exactly or approximately should our
structural location be? And how do we critically begin (re)locating
ourselves?

Constructions in Social Work Education

The limits of indigenization are precisely why social scientists (Salazar and
Veneracion, in History; or Claudio in psychology) doubt about its usefulness.
More importantly, indigcnization at the level oftranslation is merely indigenizing
the western theory. Western thinking still dominates in that it retains its power
to define what to connect or adapt to Philippine situation. To seek a balance, we
also need to understand the location and making of social work education.

Social work education is part of the process of social exchange. The

present education for social work is the product of the struggle between
progressive ideas of change. Thus, Philippine education reflects the country's
neo-colonial struggle between western influences and native world views.
(Almanzor, 198-)

In my own social work formation, I learned social work in the

indigenized mode. I argue that the comparative table that follows is not far
fetched from other students ofmy time (mid 60s). This chart, How I Learned
Social Work, reflects simply a homegrown outlook (for us) vis-a-vis a wester
one (for them). (See next pagefor the chart and diagram)

13
 SOCIAL. WORK FOR THE FORS
$a Kanila Sa atin

Country's Development Sagre when Semi-feudal

Soci a] Work began Mainly agricultural
Capitalist
Industrial boom

dirate Region Tropical

Natural Disaster prone
Cold Cultural, indigenous communities
(upland, coastal, lowland)

Population Served Resettles

Population at risk, with socio-psychological dysfunctions Squatters
Victims ofwar, natural disasters, social unrest,
sexual exploitation, illness

Welfare, as right to Social Services Welfare as an emrrgny, temporary aid viz

Well-being, synonymous with qualityoflife.

Welfare, as issue far fund raising and

planningcommunity chest and councils)

Periods of Social Work Indigenization/ Dewesternization

ONFPT Context/ Dimension/ Fornation

1950' Social Work Definition "an art in which knowledge of the Science of humn relations and
skill in relationships are used to mobilize capacities in the individual
and the resources in the community... for better adjustment between
the individual and all or some pars of his/her total environment."-
PASW, 1995. in Report of the Phil. National Committee, July 1960,
to the I0 Interational Conference ofSocial Work 1960.

Social Work Education Fields ofSocial welfare and social work methods, Classroom and field
instruction

Social Work Methods Social Casework, groupwork, community organization, social

administration, social research and social action

Social Work Specializations Methods-bound;social welfare fields; target population

Medical/ Psychiatric Practice TeamApproach in hospitals and mental healthorganizations

U.N. Concept ofCommunity First Ntioa ConferenceofSocial Work, 1957

Development: Theme: The Role ofSocial Work in Community Development

Self-reliance Rural Reconstruction and Development Mode/ Interdisciplinary team

Self-determination Approach

Consultants: Filipino Social Workers abroad (Silverio, Wolfe,

Martinez)

U.N Advisers: U.S. Fulbright exchange

« @9 CSCD
Development Journal 2000
 CONCEPTS Context/ Dimensions/ Formation
1960'¥ Social Wrk redefined- "Scierce and ant"
profession coremed with
strengthening the social Openatians Brotherhood Inc.
functioning oftarget populatian Cammunitywork in Vietam, Los, and Spang Ply, Phil
orclient:le in the context of
national development. CammunityWe lfre Center Model

Legitimationof'he Pros:ion, RA 4373, 1965, regulating the pr:tire

ofsocial work

Institute ofSocial Wak and CommunityDevelopment Act, RA 5174,

1967

Department fSacial Welre AEt, RA 5416, 1968

SchoolsofSoalckAssietians (SSWAP), 1966-1967

Student's repentation in the PASW BArd, 1970's

Sail Action heightened

1970' Sacral Development Developmental Approach

Framework

Carscientiztion Building Chnstian Communities Model, Social inequalities rd

grassroots argaruzing

Social Functioning level WMalistic, totl familyapproach

indicates capacityto meet
basic, emerging needs end to Need far Results: Welfre Indicators
participate in commurity
development

Cammunity Orgeruztion Cammunityarzaninng

Mdels. Integrated method of'soc] work, wla point afentryard a range of
Locality development interventions
Sc:ial planning
Sail ectian

1980' ParticipatoryDeelpmen! People's empwenent fr persoml and social tanfomaticn

NGO;
Ne tworkingl Alliance Building
People's Partiiptan

1990'¥ Glcbalizatian Decentralization

Local Gavemnzce= local empowement
Cammunity pactice ofSocial Wark
Refugees and Overas Waker's Conzems

Srteirbility Cammunitybased proggams

Resource gerenation and management
Entrepreneurial competencyDevelopment
Family s the urit ofSerice/ Asistnce

15
 As education is influenced by changes unfolding in institutions and
groups doing social work of some kind or another, so also developments in
social work education seeks to influence the world. What social workers do
influence the making of social work curriculum. But it is also true that education
seeks to influence the world or the workplace if not the workers themselves.
And how so? There are propositions that may be gleaned from the critiques of
practice and education.

To Kuitenbrouwer (1975), the philosophical dilemma in the social worker's

list of tasks is to determine whether or not the social welfare system ofwhich he/
she is only a part, is and should continue to serve as "an instrument in the
maintenance and development of inequality and an inevitable social order." The
dilemma lies on one hand, whether social work practitioners should accept (no
matter unintentionally) to contribute to the widening of poverty and human
degradation, or should they focus on the elimination of institutional and social
arrangements which engender and reproduce social inequality, social
disorganization, etc. To crack this issue, social workers would need to develop
inquiring, critical and valuing minds, which nurturing is an educational function.

S. Dasgupta ( 1979) posits that we need a different type of education

from the one we pursue today. Why- because we need a kind of social help that
will, in contravention to what is happening now, seek to root out the process that
creates social injustice. There are Filipino students who say the type ofeducation
so badly needed to replace the old, is one that is "scientific, mass-oriented, and
nationalist" or SMONE (NUSP).

In the context of social transformation, social work students are

expected to learn how to help people to analyze and summarize their own
experiences, and to draw lessons from these to support or advance their own
causes vis-a-vis other people's class interests. The first step, as always, is
education and of education there are variations.

First, there is what is called alternative education. This type of teaching

and learning is premised on a view of reality that education is:
"a mechanism for cultural reproduction
contributing in two principal ways to social production, or
the maintenance ofthe economic-and its corresponding
political order (Smith). It is a process of knowledge
transmission which takes place within a structure ofpower
relationships, through which constraints arc operated upon
it. The educational system is a power structure transmitting
a dominant ideology mainly through knowledge selection,
transmission and distribution". (Doronila, 1987)

I
 In this context, there is also development education. Essentially
transformative, it is designed to develop in learner participants a new, or even a
counter consciousness of their own life situations and the capacity to alter these
situations if necessary. In the context of Philippine experience, dcwelopment
education is understood as an integral part of the broader national movement,
whose basic unity is for the Filipino people to take at this juncture of their
historic struggle, decolonization and democratization in nation-building. (Ibid.)

Bases and Standards for Education and Practice

Looking now for standards, social work is both oJjectively responsive

and scientific if(!) it is based on the people's experience; (2) it responds to the
objective conditions of the people, and the objective laws of development; (3) it
serves the interest of the Filipino masses, who are the primary movers of a
national democracy; and (4) it is sensitive to the objectives of various sectors of
the poor in society. (Apit, 1974)

So if there is a space for class-based, community-based or ethnic

sensitive social work practice, the social work practitioner describes practice
precisely in these terms. The order is: to grasp social work's historic role, and in
some instances to negate the education or renounce the class to which one has
been born and/or socialized.

Media Projections: Professionalization or Deprofessionalization

Media projections are a way of educating the public. The medial reflect
various public understandings of so-called social workers who manage to
contribute to various national or local concerns. They also popularize concepts
(e.g. social work) that are commonly used in the academe.

For instance, the printing of the face ofJosefa-Llanes Escoda, with two
other men heroes in the P1,000.00 Philippine currency bill ( 199 I) mirror's society's
acknowledgement of her services in the struggle against Japanese occupation
1942-44. A trained social worker abroad, she campaigned for women's suffrage
in the Philippines, and co-founded the National Federation of Women's Clubs
whose pioneering feeding and day care programs continue to this day. She is an
icon of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. The ABS-CBN televised Bayani Series
( 1996) has a special feature of her lifestory.
 Even the recognition ofself-proclaimed social workers such as socialite
and philanthropist Rosemarie "Baby" Arenas (political campaign ad, 1992), and
actress Ruffa Gutierrez (news item), and hairstylist Ricky Reyes (T. Locsin, the
Assignment, Channel 2, June 26/00) are signs that the term social worker has
other claimants. A former DSWD Secretary in her time referred to herself"as a
physician and a social worker...." (PCSO TV Ad). In addition, a journalist
described a 1999 Palanca winner, writer Roy Loredo, as a social worker who
worked with PEPE (People's Empowerment through Popular Education). But
there is also Corazon Alma G. de Leon, former Civil Service Commission
Chairperson, and former DSWD undersecretary and Chair of the Mt. Pinatubo
Commission. She is a social worker by training and work experience.

Given these images as examples, the media indeed display a spectrum

ofperceptions ofwho are the social workers in this country. Media use the label
to apply to showbiz personalities, philanthropist, popular educator, and public
officials, regardless of social work education and training. The personalities
commonly show their participation in various forms of social interventions not
necessarily social work. The social practice of helping people stays at the root
of it all, differing only in background and context of the helping person.

Licensed social workers normally practice their profession in varied

structures or relatively open settings, whether government, non-government or
people's organizations. For and with a wide range ofdisadvantaged, marginalized,
and vulnerable population groups, practitioners pursue the quest for a better
quality of life ... a task that makes them like any other good citizen, well meaning
politician or dedicated professional. They also occupy positions either directorial,
managerial, or front line.

As a class of social work intervenors, they deliver direct and indirect

services. Yet, the proper niche of social workers in the struggle for social
transformation remains to be defined, lest other thinkers and knowledge producers
define the self-niche for them. The professional mandate calls for constant
dialogues and self-critiquing toward a collective professional image
construction.

As a technical term, social work professionalization refers to

standardization in education and practice in ways that meet the norms, ethics,
and sanctions defined by the Professional Regulation Commission, the
professional association of social workers, the social work schools, and social
welfare and development agencies. (See Diagram B: The World of Social Work
Education)
 Diagram B: The World of Social Work Education

Accreditation

Association of Social Work Schools

[sow][wsvi[wsws]

Field Practicum/
Research Practicum

,T
~ Othcrl\GAs

DSWD

--------
PRC Board of
Examiners University
Student
• Faculty
• Reps
LEGEND: ~ Admin'
Staff
APASWE- Asia-Padfic Association of So0al Work Education
DSWD- Department of Soial Welfare and Development Alumni
IASWS- International Assoa ation of Sodal Work Schools
LGU- Local Governme nt Unit
NASWEI - National Assoaation of So0al Work Schools
NGA- National Govemment Agency
NGO Non-Govemmental Organization
PASU- Phil. Assodation of Schools, Colleges & Universities
PO- People's Organization
PRC- Professional Regulatory Commission

19
 In professionalizing the provision of services, it is not always clear
whether the practitioner uses a theory, or for that matter whether he or she
indigenizes with an imported theory. (Pease, 1989) What is critical is the
practitioner's exposure and exchange with various types ofdevelopment workers,
and of course colleagues. Social welfare and development work is not the
monopoly of social workers. As Apit (1924) says: "Any effort designed for
human development should be in some way a contribution to the development
of the national as well as the international whole. Or else, it is objectively not a
development effort." 1-ic ascribes professional involvement as one enters into
an alliance with other professionals, institutions and movements.

Practice Relevance
Some criteria for social work practice modeling aid and direct social
workers in building knowledge for developing countries like the Philippines, etc.
Three major criteria are mentioned here, namely, people's participation, socio-
economic contexts and an ideology of service for the greater good.

The people's input to a definition of goals and processes is recognized

as an important clement of practice model-building. The model positions the
change agent (the social worker) and the target of change (the people) on a
partnership basis, and it puts the question of relevance squarely on the people.
The definition of the problem, need, or process of meeting the need is an area
where the people dominate, in juxtaposition with an agency's target goals and
objectives.

The premises of democracy, e.g., economic sovereignty and political

independence are goals yet pursued in many Asian countries. If Asian social
work is to build its theory and practice around ideas of social reform and change
strategy, the professionals have to develop a clear understanding of the current
economic, political and cultural realities surrounding diversity and socialjustice.
The limitations of reformism can be handled, and the handling must begin by
locating the reform strategics within a particular socio-cultural context. (Gelper
in Jayasuriya, 1979)

The growth in social work ideology in the 3" world countries continues
as a reaction to the intellectual dependence on colonial or western social
science models, which dependence continues long after these countries already
gained their political independence. Jayasuriya ( 1979) points out that social
work is saturated in the ideology of man as a universalistic theory. But nations
show vast unequal rates of development. Social work roles are thus properly
redirected when these roles are transformed to meet the appropriate contingencies
such as gross inequalities.
pp.
\Yi I, •.
1
r ,' 1:11 I'(,', _~/ r,!J
 It is said that social workers use words that carry certain ideologies. For
example, the words "self-determination" or self-reliance" convey an understanding of
social realities and their evaluations. Here is a paradox in social work praxis,
because a balance ofperspectives does not always exist. A dilemma for the social
work practitioner lies in determining which dominates - the social need or the
individual need (or the need of a few).

In this sense, the social worker can only aspire that his/her work can be
truly relevant if it contributes directly or indirectly, to serving larger units (the
greater good).

21
A Proposed Framework of Discourse in Social Work

The review of discourses in the social sciences in general and social

work in particular altogether suggests a number of take-off points toward
transforming the practice of social work in the Philippines; such as the (1)
decolonizing intent to build upon the indigenous; (2) pursuit of relevance in the
context of a nation's history and state of well-being; (3) critical and selective
transfer of knowledge/technology; and ( 4) liberational and empowering
methodology. To develop the indigenous, first search, strengthen and enrich the
traditional and local sources of knowledge; second rethink social work available
knowledge, then third relate knowledge to recent trends regional and global.

Social work in the Philippines can be assessed using at least three basic
frameworks: the historical framework, the socio-cultural context, and a kind of
framework for a data base which can be utilized to serve the processes ofcritiquing
and rethinking, and developing thereby a local theory and practice of the
discipline.

1. Historical Framework

Social work history in the Philippines gives character

to local practice, only as the profession unfolds as part of
national and international developments. Professional social
work was practically non-existent during the colonial period,
practiced only in the form of religious works of charity and
civic efforts. Through education and practice, the pre-colonial
social practices of helping continues and discontinued in some
ways. These continuities and discontinuities therefore
demand the attention of the Filipino scholar. Social work as a
discipline is there to enrich the social world where the practitioners
were born, nurtured and are now cast to play their roles in
nation-building.

Historical narratives about the nation and the people

emphasize the problems of decolonization identified in the
structures, habits, and practices of social work as a profession.
In this regard, selected works of revolutionary writers, like
Jacinto and Mabini, Claro M. Recto, and Jose Ma. Sison; and
millenarian scholars like Reynaldo Ileto and Prospero Covar,
to name only two, can be reviewed for their contribution to the
thinking on social transformation in the Philippines. Their
works have much to say to strengthen the Filipino character
of social work.
 Social work history can be enriched and rewritten
using not only archival materials, but also with textual analysis
of newsclips and media projections; writing biographies and
life stories ofsocial workers, national and local heroes thru the
decades; focus group discussions on world views of social
workers and clients with regard to their perceptions of help
that empowers; workshops on the teaching of social work
history; analysis of shifting trends in the practice of social
work vis-a-vis agency mission and vision statements; preparing
and using case records and project process documentations,
and more.

2. The Socio-cultural Context

As mentioned earlier, social work has been part of the

Filipino culture even before the term was introduced. Social
work was in the form of acts of helping people outside of
one's own immediate family, and this has always been a part of
the egalitarian barangay structure. (See Paradigm on
Pagt«long p.8)

With our colonial experience, however, society

became structured. Social work practitioners picked up an
ideology from continuing analysis of social inequalities.

An integrated approach towards counter-consciousness

formation represents an effort to "own" (no more as borrowed
knowledge) professional work in the Philippines. The development
perspectives that lend themselves toward nurturing the native
professional come from ( 1) national aspirations (a composite
of institutional vision and mission statements); (2) formation
and transformation ofpeople within the kinship and community,
structures, as well as professional and national communities;
(4) social network/support systems that provide safety nets
to handle social inadequacies and contradictions; and (5) a
redistributive model of creating and providing resources and
services.

The country's history flows into the changing social

work concepts, decentering the person and the problem, and
bringing to light the political-economic and socio-cultural
contexts of change and social transformation.

23
 3. Data-base of Knowledge-building

The data-base underlies a framework that seeks to

identify tensions within and among the professionals and their
client's world views. This data-base consists of: perspectives
in social development, social work education, professional
continuing education, and the indigenous concepts of helping
as social practices.

All these components are suggested to ensure not

merely feasibility, but effectiveness as well ofpractice models.

The rooting objectives of dewesternization are

basically to (I) contextualize social work within the country's
development formation; and (2) to validate the effectiveness
of social work interventions in scientific and cultural terms.

Next Task: Reconceptualization

Accepted in the social work profession is the need for indigenization.

But as in other disciplines, indigenization is perceived as the other face offoreign,
and therefore it belongs to the same discourse. We know that the western
theorist are just as happy as we are that social work of the third world is
"indigenizing" and therefore expanding social work theorizing. Yet in this process,
the western is still the dominant "other", and we, the "indigenizers." Rather, we
are for instance owning social work when we define it as teorya at praktika ng
pagtulong sa gawaing panlipunan, in our own terms.

As Western domination becomes a thing of the past in the next

millennium, social work in the Philippines will gradually veer away form its social
work "fathers" and "mothers", the process ofpractice. As a collective, professionals
will be reflecting on their own experiences and will be increasingly self and
native-conscious rather than other or west-conscious. So what if it takes a
hundred years? The best is yet to come.
References Cited:

Agpalo, Remigio.(1964) "Pandanggo sa llaw: Politics of

Occidental Mindoro", Phil. Journal of Public Administration,
vol. viii, no. 8.

Almanzor, Angelina.(198_) "Social Work Education in Asia in

the Struggle for Social Transformation", a paper
prepared for ESCAP, Typescript. 198.

Apit, Alejandro.( 1974) "The Professional and Historical

Task of People's Development, Social Work, Philippine Association
of Social Workers, Oct-Dec.

Bautista, Ma. Cynthia Rose.(1985) "Participatory Research

and Academic Social Sciences," Some Reflections based on shifting
frameworks in sociology, Lambatlaya, CSWCD, UP Diliman, I"
and 2 Quarters.

Bonifacio, Manuel F.(1973) "The Transformative Nature Of

Social Work," original in The SSWAP Exchange, vol. I, no. 5,
Sept-Oct.

Claudio, Sylvia E. (1996)"Sekswalidad, Pagkababae at Pagkatao,"

disertasyong pang-doktorado sa silkolohiya, Kolehiyo ng
Agham Panlipunan at Pilosopiya, U.P.

Covar, Prospero. (1995) "Unburdening Philippine Society of

Colonialism, Diliman Review, vol. 4, no.2, Quezon City.

Dasgupta, Saguta.(1979) "Retooling Social Work for the

Eradication ofSocial Injustice," Proceedings ofa Seminar on
Diversity and Social Justice, APASWE, Melbourne.

De Guzman, Leonora.(1992) Social Work Practice: History and

Evolution," Introduction to Social Work. Q. C.: New Day
Publishers.

Doronila, Ma. Luisa.(1991) "Bringing Back Education to the

Mainstream of People's Lives: The Education Forum Experience,
Curriculum Journal, Education Forum, vol. I, no. I.

Enriquez, Virgilio ( 1992) From Colonial to Liberation

Psychology. Q. C.: U.P. Press.

Jayasuriya, D.L.(1979) "Diversity and Social Justice in the

Asian Region: Some Systematic Issues Relevant to Social Work,"
Proceedings of a Seminar, Melbourne.

25
Kendall, Katherine.(1978) Reflections on Social Work
Education, 1950-1978. Vienna/New York: International
Association of Schools of Social Work.

Kuitenbrouer, Joost.(ca. 1975) "Social Welfare: For

Dependency or Self-Reliance," abridged version in M.C.J.
Yeneracion (ed.), Social Work: Tradition and Profession
in the Philippines, MSV Press.

Mendoza, Thelma L. (1981) Social Work and Social Welfare:

An Introduction. Cebu: Cornejo & Sons.

Palma Rosette G. "The Concept of Social Functioning..., Paper delivered at

the NASWEI Conference held in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, April 2000.

Please, Bob. Theory-practice debate in Social Work: a critical Reappraisal,

Seminar Proceedings, Asia-Pacific Association in Social Work
Education, Beijing, 1991.

Resnick, Rosa Paula. "The Indigenization of Social Work Around the World"
:The Reconceptualization Movement in Latin America
and its Implication in North America, as cited in Social Realities
and the Social Work Response, Proceedings, XVIII International
Congress of Social Work Schools, Puerto Rico, 1976.

Salazar, Zeus A. (1991)"Ang Pantayong Pananaw Bilang

Diskursong Pangkabihasnan", Filipinolohiya: Kasaysayan.
Pilosopiya at Pananaliksik nina V.V. Bautista & R.P.Pua (pat.).
Manila: Kalikasan Press.

Veneracion, Victor J. "Pantayong Pananaw ni Salazar," A term paper

submitted for Kasaysayan I, U.P. Diliman, 1995.

R.G. Walton & M.M. Abo El Nasr, Indigenization and Authentization

in terms of Social Work in Egypt, International Social Work,
vol. 31, no 2, April 1988. Pp 135-144.

F. Yasas, Use of Creative Literature in Social Work Education,

Seminar-Workshop Proceedings, Institute of Social
Work and Community Development, U.P. Diliman, 1973.

Data-banks:
Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) 1998
Ibon Foundation, Inc.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
Kilusang Mayo Uno
Endnotes:

In her book, Social Work and Social Welfare: An Introduction, 1981, Mendoza
states that social welfare "practically denotes everything that man can do for the good
of society, everything that organizes the social concerns through programs and
activities undertaken by various agencies and institutions and that involves the
contribution of many people with different competencies." P.2

Curiously, there is yet no satisfactory equivalent of the term "social functioning"

in Filipino. This remains to be a "borrowed" term for us, and if so, does the
term have to be "returned" ?

Enriquez ( 1993 ): Every ethnic community has an informal indigenous psychology

reflecting the people's knowledge, methods and practices." He starts the formation of
a psychologist with the basic principles and roots to modem and indigenous
psychology. In the process, he rewrites the discipline's history with the attempt to
decolonize.

Discourse is defined as an inquiry into the nature and use of language. To understand
the meaning of an utterance or a text, e.g., social work, indigcnization, etc.,
requires more than knowing what it refers to. Discursive practices include definitions,
concepts with which to analyze an object to delimit what can or can not be said
about it, and to damarcate who can say it. Once publicized, utterances become public
properties, and the interpretations arc subject to the reader, no longer under the
control of the author/speaker. ( Adapted from Fowler, Dictionary of Modem Critical
Terms, 1987)

With specific legislative materials to critically and periodically examine, a

practitioners' discourse on profession-related social policy statements suggest
another angle for studying local practice. This kind ( of discourse) is for another time.

27