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HISTORY OF SOCIAL WELFARE/SOCIAL WORK IN THE PHILIPPINES
THE PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD

Social Welfare work in those times centered on mutual protection and economic survival.

THE SPANISH PERIOD

The Spaniards brought the teaching, to do good to others for the salvation of their souls, and which for many years was the
underlying philosophy behind all social welfare activities.

1565 – Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi established the first hospital in Cebu for the purpose of attending to the wounded and
the victims of diseases.

1882 – Hospicio de San Jose was founded to house the aged and orphans, the mentally defective and young boys requiring
reform, but later limiting admission to children who were discharged, later to be adopted or employed.

1885 – Asilo de San Vicente de Paul, an asylum for girls was established, offering religious instruction, primary education,
and training in housework in its inmates.
The hospitals, asylums, orphanages and schools were maintained using subsidies and grants from the Spanish government.
However, these were not sufficient and donations from philanthropic individuals were also solicited.

THE AMERICAN PERIOD

1899 – Americans occupied the country and introduced a new educational system, new health methods, and religious
freedom.

1902 – The Civil government created an agency, the Insular Board, to coordinate and supervise private institutions engaged
in welfare work.

February 5, 1915 – The American government created the Public Welfare Board with the passage of Legislative Act No.
2510, essentially to coordinate the welfare activities of various existing charitable organizations.

January 1917 – The first government entity to operate as a welfare agency, and an initial step in child welfare services, was
set up.

1900 – Attempt was made to alleviate the condition of deaf children at the Philippine Normal School.

1910 – A school for the deaf and blind was organized.

1905 – The Philippine chapter of the American Red Cross was established to take charge of disaster relief in the country and
to administer Red Cross funds from the United States.

1907 – La Gota de Leche was established to furnish child-caring institutions with fresh cow’s milk from dairy farm
in Pasay, Manila, supervised by a veterinarian. This agency later opened free consultation clinic for mothers.

1913 – Associacion de Damas Filipinas was organized by civic-spirited women to help destitute mothers and their children.

1921 – Office of the Public Welfare Commissioner was created. It absorbed the functions of the Public Welfare Board which,
while charged with coordinating and intensifying the activities of child welfare organizations and agencies, was unable to
cope with the mounting problems in the health field, which was manifested by the high infant mortality rate in the second
decade of the century.

1922 – The Office of the Public Welfare Commissioner prepared solicitation forms which it required the public to demand of
any person appealing for donations and charities. This was done to protect the public and organizations from unscrupulous
persons collecting funds. This practice, however, was not legally sanctioned until 1933.

1924 – The Associated Charities had become independent agency under the supervision of the Public Welfare
Commissioner, and was partly financed by the government, and partly by private contributions.
– The Philippine Legislature passed a law (Philippine Legislative Act No. 3203) relating to the care and custody of neglected
and delinquent children and providing probation officers for them.

1933 – The administration of social welfare in the Philippines was marked by significant developments when Frank Murphy
became the Governor-General. Scholarship grants for professional training in social work in the United States were made
available.
– The Legislature appropriated funds for the operations of government child and maternal health centers which was
established in every town with at least two thousand populations.

The economic depression in the 1930s created serious economic problems. The Associated Charities were unable to cope
with the number of applicants for relief and other social services, despite appropriations made by the Office of the Public
Welfare Commissioner, under its director, Dr. Jose Fabella.

Josefa Jara Martinez who obtained a diploma in Social Work in 1921, worked for the Public Welfare Board where she started
to introduce the scientific approach in social work.

The Murphy administration’s social welfare programs marked the first time the government assumed full responsibility for
the relief of the distressed due to any cause.

THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD

1940 – The Office of the Commissioner of Health and Public Welfare was abolished and replaced by a Department of Health
and Public Assistance Service, which took over the activities that used to be performed by the Associated Charities which, by
then, had ceased to exist.

THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

Social Welfare activities during the period consisted mainly of giving medical care and treatment, as well as food and
clothing, to the wounded soldiers, prisoners and civilians.

THE POST-WAR YEARS

1946 – The Bureau of Public Welfare re-opened but lack of funds limited its operations.

October 4, 1947 – The Bureau became the Social Welfare Commission and was placed under the Office of the President.

August 1948 – President Quirino created the President’s Action Committee on Social Amelioration. It is a comprehensive
program of health, education, welfare, agriculture, public works and financing.

1946 – The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General
Assembly to further maternal and child health in economically underdeveloped country.

1948 – UNICEF became active in the Philippines, establishing basic health care services to mothers and children, consisting
of medical care, feeding programs and health education.

January 3, 1951 – The Social Welfare Commission and the President’s Action Committee on Social Amelioration were fused
into one agency called the Social Welfare Administration.

THE SOCIAL WELFARE ADMINISTRATION

Division of Public Assistance
Assistance was given in the form of material aid like food, financial aid, transportation aid, medical aid, institutional care and
work relief.
Service was rendered in the form of rehabilitation services and administration and supervision of rehabilitation projects and
workshops.
Child Welfare Division
Casework and guidance services for children are under this unit.
Division on Rural Welfare
This was created by Administrative Order No. 7, on September 5, 1951.
It deals with the mounting social problems in the rural areas.
“Self-Help” became the underlying philosophy for the rural community development projects.
1965 – Republic Act 4373, “An Act to Regulate the Practice of Social Work and the Operation of Social Work Agencies in
the Philippines”
– The law requires completion of a Bachelor of Science in Social Work degree, one thousand hours of supervised field
practice, and the passing of a government board examination in social work for licensing or registration as a social worker.
– It is the formal recognition of social work as a profession in the Philippines.

THE SEVENTIES

September 8, 1976 – The Department of Social Welfare became the Department of Social Services and Development shifting
emphasis on the traditional, often institution-based social welfare to community-oriented programs and services.

June 2, 1978 – President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1397, converting departments into ministries thus
the Ministry of Social Services and Development. The organizational structure, functions and programs remains the same.
The sixties and seventies marked the existence of voluntary organizations and establishment of even more agencies.

THE EIGHTIES

The Self-Employment Assistance was upgraded to make it more responsive to its client’s needs. Case Management System
was launched. Social Welfare Indicators monitor the level of well-being of the MSSD service users.

January 30, 1987 – President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order No. 123, reorganizing MSSD and renaming it
Department of Social Welfare and Development. The Department was evolving from mere welfare or relief agency to the
greater task of development. The approach taken by the agency during this period is described as preventive and
developmental, participative and client-managed.

THE NINETIES

The DSWD continued the five program areas of concern during the early nineties.It also gave priority attention
to Low Income Municipalities (LIMs) and other socially-depressed barangays. The aftermath of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption
was the use of Crisis Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), a form of crisis intervention used with victims of disasters and other
crisis situation.

October 10, 1991 – R.A. 7160 Local Government Code was passed. Implementing functions together with its programs and
services were devolved to its local government unit. The Department, however, retained its specialized social services
consisting of four categories: (a) Center/institution-based services; (b) community-based programs and services; (c) locally-
funded and foreign-assisted projects; and (d) disaster relief and rehabilitation augmentation.

Today, countless social agencies, organizations and institutions under private sponsorship are engaged in the provision of
many different social services. NGOs play a very important role in supplementing the needs of the rising disadvantaged
sectors in our society.

R.A. 4373 (the Social Work Law, 1967) provides that no social welfare agency shall operate and be accredited unless it shall
first have registered with the Social Welfare Administration which shall issue the corresponding certificate of registration.

R.A. 5416 (1968) empowers the Department to (1) set standards and policies; (2) accredit public and private institutions and
organizations; and (3) coordinate government efforts in social welfare work to avoid duplication, friction and overlapping of
responsibility in social services.