SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES, PROGRAMS AND
SERVICES
Social welfare defined:
 In its broadest sense, it covers practically
everything that men do for the good of the
society.
 Organized concern of all people for all people
(Gertrude Wilson)
 The organized system of social services and
institutions, designed to aid individuals and
groups to attain satisfying standards of life and
health. (Walter Friedlander)
 Includes those laws, programs, benefits and
services which assure or strengthen
provisions for meeting social needs
recognized as basic to the well-being of the
population and the better functioning of the
social order. (Elizabeth Wickenden)
 The common denominator in the various
definitions is what society has done and
continue to do in order to respond to the
well-being of all the members of the
human society – includes the physical,
mental, emotional, social, economic and
spiritual well-being
EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
THE PRE-SPANISH TIMES
 Communities were independent social units
called “barangays”, which was often ruled by a
headman, who was usually the oldest member
of the community, and known as “datu”, whose
function was to oversee the welfare of the
members, and also serves as the arbiter of
conflict and leader in times of anger.
 Welfare concentration: Mutual protection for
economic survival
 Basic Concepts: Bayanihan and Damayan
 Source of Policies: Maragtas Code and
Kalantiaw Code
SPANISH TIMES (1521-1898)
 Basic Philosophy: Religion was the motivating
force for the charity
 Forms of Charity: almsgiving, charitable
institutions, and hospitals for the poor
 Source of Funding: Religious orders,
contributions and donations of rich individuals,
subsidy from the spanish government( in the
Philippines and in Spain)
Significant Development: institutions were established
by religious orders:
1. San Lazaro Hospital (1578) – took care of
indigent beggars and sick “natives”
2. San Juan de Dios Hospital(1596) – took care of
indigent and sick spaniards
3. Hospicio de San Jose(1810) FOR THE CARE
OF ORPHANS AND THE AGED
4. Asilo de san Vicente de Paul(1885) – for the
care and protection of indigent and orphaned
girls
5. Santa Isabel – school for the indigent girls
6. San Juan de Letran- school for the indigent
boys For the indigents outside of the
institutions, almsgiving was regularly practiced
by the churches and convents and the
First Philippine Republic (1896-1902)
 Tandang Sora (Melchora Aquino) took care of
the sick and wounded soldiers
 Hilaria Aguinaldo, wife of the President of the
first Republic introduced the concept of the red
Cross.
 American Colonial Period (1899-1946)
 Birth of voluntary organizations for social
welfare i.e. Associated Charities of
Manila(1917)
 Public Welfare- beginning assumption by the
government of its responsibility for social
welfare
 Parens Patriae – child welfare concept that it is
the duty of the government to place children in
better circumstances, whenever the parents
could not provide adequate care themselves.
 The administration of social welfare in the
Philippines was marked by significant
developments when Frank Murphy became
governor general in 1933. Scholarship grants
for professional training in social work in the
United States were made available.
 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 COMMONEALTH PERIOD
  President Manuel L. Quezon, passed the anti-
usury laws, the eight-hour labor law fixing
minimum wages, laws related to insurance,
pensions, women and child labor.
 Initiated housing projects making it possible
for tenants to buy these houses on easy
installment plans.
 He created relief boards and other bodies to
undertake relief activities during periods of
natural calamities, economic crisis and
unemployment.
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
 The second world war brought death and
immeasurable suffering to the country’s
population for three years 1942-1944.
 Social welfare activities during this period
consisted mainly of giving medical care and
treatment, as well as food and clothing, to the
wounded soldiers, prisoners and civilians.
 The Bureau of Public Welfare was closed when
the war broke out and was reorganized by the
Executive Commission and instructed to attend
the general welfare of the residents, and to give
food and comfort to the released prisoners
from concentration camps.
 Relief work operations was undertaken
primarily by volunteer organizations. Ex.
Philippine Red cross, YWCA, and the National
Federation of Women’s Leagues. Hospitals also
were there to provide medical treatment i.e.
Phil. Gen. Hospital, St. Luke’s, Mary Johnston
and the North Gen. Hospital.
 Churches and convents were used as centers of
operations with members of religious
organizations doing their share of volunteer
work
THE POST-WAR YEARS
 The Bureau of Public Welfare re-opened in
1946, but lack o funds greatly limited its
operation.
 On October 4, 1947, recognizing the need for a
more centralized and better integrated social
welfare program, the bureau became the Social
Welfare commission, and was placed under the
Office of the president. This signified the
formal recognition of social welfare as
responsibility of the state.
 The late forties saw the upsurge of new socio-
economic and political problems. The
feudalistic tenancy system created a dissident
movement which threatened the stability of the
government under President Elpidio Quirino.
 In August 1948, Pres. Quirino created the
President’s Action committee on Social
Amelioration (PACSA) which was charged
with the “duty of giving relief assistance to the
hungry, the homeless and the sick. . . to victims
of dissident depredation and violence.” It
included a comprehensive program of health,
education, welfare, agriculture, public works
and financing.
 An international agency also made its mark in
the social welfare scene: The United Nations
International Children’s Emergency fund
(UNICEF) created by the United Nations
General Assembly in 1946 to further maternal
and child health in economically
underdeveloped countries, and became active
in the Philippines after 1948 to date.
THE SOCIAL WELFARE ADMINISTRATION
 On 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. Shortly after this, the new
agency established a staff development service,
began accepting social work field practice
students from the newly-opened social work
schools in the metropolitan Manila Area, and
started to conduct more surveys and field
studies on income, housing needs, and the
needs of social groups such as the
handicapped.
 With the establishment of Social Welfare
Administration, the responsibility for relief was
placed under the new agency’s Division of
Public Assistance, which became concerned
with the need for a kore professional
administration of public tax-supported welfare
programs and services to needy and
disadvantaged members of the community.
This office has two programs: 1. Assistance
and 2. Service
 Another important Arm of the Social Welfare
Administration was its Child welfare division.
 Another division was created by
Administrative order No. 7 on September 5,
1951, the Division of Rural Welfare, to deal
with the mounting social problems in the rural
areas. i.e. land settlements for victims of
dissidence and disasters, and the establishment
 and maintenance of welfare services for non-
christian tribal groups.
 In 1954, the SWA was reorganized, and this
division developed new community programs
such as self-help centers, community kitchens
and cottage industries. “Self-help” became the
underlying philosophy for the rural community
development projects facilitated or stimulated
by the SWA’s Rural Welfare Division.
 An important development in the mid-sixties
was the passage in 1965 of R. A. 4373, “An act
to Regulate the Practice of Social Work and the
operation of Social Work Agencies in the
Philippines.” Generally it is considered the
formal recognition of social work as a
profession in the Philippines.
 In 1968, Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos signed
R.A. 5416, known as the social welfare act of
the Philippines, elevating SWA into a
department. The Government declared social
welfare a matter of policy when the law stated
that “it is the responsibility of the Government
to promote a comprehensive program of social
welfare services designed to ameliorate the
living conditions of distressed Filipinos
particularly those that are handicapped by
reasons of poverty, youth, physical and mental
disability, illness and old age, or those who are
victims of natural calamities, including giving
assistance to members of cultural minorities to
facilitate their integration into the body
politic.”
 The Department drew up a comprehensive
social welfare program along the following
concerns:
 A. preventive and remedial programs and
services for individuals, families and
communities
 B. Protective remedial and developmental
welfare services for children
 C. Vocational rehabilitation and related
services for the physically handicapped, ex-
convicts and individuals with special needs
 D. training, research and special projects
THE SEVENTIES
 Martial Law was declared and it set up a crisis
government on September 21, 1972. this was
the period of the first (1970s) United Nations-
declared “Development Decades.”
 On September 8, 1976, the Department of
Social Welfare became the Department of
Social Services and Development shifting
emphasis from the traditional, often institution-
based social welfare to community-oriented
programs and services which underscored
people’s own capacities for problem solving.
The department accepted the development
thrust in social welfare.
 On June 2, 1978, Pres. Marcos issued P.D.
1397, providing for the conversion of
departments into ministries, to adapt to the
requirements of the change from a presidential
to a parliamentary form of government. The
department was renamed into the ministry of
Social Services and Development. The
organizational structure, functions and
programs remained the same.
In 1949, the Council of Welfare Agencies and the
Community Chest of Greater manila were organized.
The Council was established to:
a. study and define social welfare problems and human
needs
b. develop a coordinated plan of action to meet these
needs
c. help improve the standards of social services
d. serve as the national Committee for the international
conference on social welfare
THE EIGHTIES
The self-Employment Assistance (SEA) the Ministry’s
banner program was upgraded to make it more
responsive to its clients’ needs. The “total family
approach” that guided the program put emphasis on
food production and nutrition, and provided training in
business management skills.
Other important achievements of MSSD during this
period includes:
a. Launching of case management system employing
TFA with a set of SWI
b. primary health care related activities integrated into
the MSSD’s services on the barangay level
c. greater cooperation and coordination and
coordination among NGOs in response to MSSD’s
technical assistance, consultation, planning and
monitoring workshops
d. increased participation of local governments in
social welfare activities . . . And more
 On January 30, 1987, Pres. Corazon C. Aquino
signed E.O. 123, reorganizing the MSSD and
renamed it Department of Social Welfare and
 Development. The department was “evolving
from mere welfare or relief agency to the
greater task of development.” E.O. 123
provided for the creation of the Bureau of
Women’s Welfare “with specific attention to
the prevention or eradication of exploitation of
women in any form . . . As well as the
promotion of skills for employment and self-
actualization.”
 The approach taken by the agency this time is
described as “preventive and developmental,
participative and client-managed.”
THE NINETIES
3. Labor market – measures aimed at enhancing
employment opportunities and protection of the rights
and welfare of workers.
4. Social safety nets – stop-gap measures or urgent
responses that address effects of economic shocks,
disaster and calamities on specific vulnerable groups.
RISKS:
1. Loss of income
2. Sickness, Old age, disability, etc.
3. Disaster

 The DSWD still continued its areas of

concerns, but gave priority attention to Low
Income Municipalities (LIM) and other
socially-depressed barangays. It was also
greatly involved in disaster management in
many parts of the country that experienced
calamities and other hazardous incidents.
 On October 10, 1991, R.A. 7160 otherwise
known as the local Government Code of 1991
was passed. The DSWD shifted gear. i.e it had
to devolve its implementing functions together
with its programs and services , direct service
workers, budget corresponding to the salary
and funds of the staff and programs, and assets
and liabilities to the local government units
starting 1992. the devolution meant a
realignment of the DSWD’s structure.
 The decade of the nineties saw the DSWD
move from its traditional image of service
provider to one that leads in social welfare
policy formulation and program development,
standard-setting and regulation enforcement,
provision of technical assistance, capability-
building and augmentation support to LGUs,
NGOs and POs.
Philippine Government in the 20s
1. Reduction of poverty and reduction of vulnerabilities

2. Protecting the poor and vulnerable from risks

3. Mitigating pressures on households
Strategies:
1. Social Insurance – programs that seek to mitigate
income risks by pooling of resources and spreading
risks across time and workers.
2. Social welfare – preventive and developmental
interventions that seek to support the minimum basic
requirements of the poor particularly the poorest of the
poor, andreducerisksassociatedwithunemployment,