Abstract
Abstract A most disappointing phenomenon under the regime of President Duterte was the glaring absence of the social work profession’s response in exposing and condemning the abuse of power committed by the whole government bureaucracy. Worse, at the early part of the war on drugs, the lead government agency, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), was instructed not to extend services to the families of the victims of the extrajudicial killings. In annual board review classes, B.S. in Social Work graduates profess admiration for Duterte’s authoritarian brand of leadership. They even justify their support though it runs counter to their social work ethical foundations and values. Duterte’s regime perverted the justice system; thoroughly mangled and distorted the human rights discourse and practice; and, had no respect for human dignity whereby drug addicts and pushers were not regarded as human beings. The social work curriculum should gradually include and integrate fundamental human rights principles as major content. The more than one hundred schools offering social work education should promote and operationalize the pedagogy of human rights in all social work courses. These efforts can be sustained by also building corps of social work educators who can be advocates and trainers in developing a pedagogy of human rights education in social work, both in the classroom and in field instruction. All these will contribute to the realization of social work as a human rights profession in the country.
Published Version
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