As the nation commemorated the second Philippine Social Workers’ Day, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista thanked the country’s social work practitioners for dedicating their lives to empower poor, marginalized and vulnerable communities.

The DSWD chief said Filipino social workers have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the Philippine government’s social welfare programs and services, which include human welfare, people and community empowerment, disaster response and social development.

"Despite the challenges that they face in the practice of their profession, social workers continue to stay dedicated to the values of their vocation to ensure the betterment of the poor, marginalized and vulnerable sectors of the society. Hence, it is necessary to regard social work as one of the noblest profession,” he said during the virtual conference organized by the DSWD in partnership with ASEAN Social Work Consortium-Philippines on Saturday.

“I would like to express my gratitude to all Filipino social workers who dedicated their lives to empower communities and enhance the overall well-being of our poor, marginalized and vulnerable kababayans (countrymen),” he added.

The virtual conference marked the nation’s commemoration of the enactment of Republic Act No. 4373 or “An Act to Regulate the Practice of Social Work and the Operation of Social Work Agencies in the Philippines and for Other Purposes.” Around 500 social workers were expected to participate in the conference.

“Through this gathering, we will be able to ensure the continuing development of the social work practice and education by unifying various social work associations to strengthen mechanism and cooperation for more effective and participatory delivery of services across the country,” Bautista said.

“Rest assured that the Department will continue to support Filipino social workers by developing efficient and effective strategies that will foster camaraderie and responsive capacity building mechanism for the advancement of the social work profession.”

This year’s theme is “Strengthening Solidarity and Inter-connectedness among Filipino Social Workers” to “highlight the contributions of our social workers to social development and people empowerment.”

The conference sought to recognize social workers’ accomplishments as different social work association will have to endorse three awardees to be recognized for this year’s ‘Gawad Parangal Sa Natatanging Kontribusyon Ng Manggagawang Panlipunan.’

The social welfare department noted that there are a total of 500 social work practitioners from different social work associations.

These include Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc.; National Association of Social Work Educations, Inc.; Association of Local Social Welfare and Development Officers of the Philippines, Inc.; Philippine Association of Court Social Workers, Inc.; Association of Child Caring Agencies of the Philippines, Inc.; DOH League of Medical Social Workers, Association of Medical Social Workers of the Philippines; Association of DSWD Social Workers, Inc.; National Council of Social Development; and the Area Based Standards Network.

A lecture on the enhanced version of the Philippine Social Work Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards was conducted by Lorna C. Gabad, chairperson of the Professional Regulatory Board for Social Work, as part of the Social Workers’ Day celebration “to strengthen solidarity and for the improvement of practice of social workers.”