As the main component of CSWCD-KALAHI-CIDSS Partnership, four social work students of the CSWCD who are fully committed to serve, uplift and transform communities through government service and academic support have just been deployed in Nabua, Camarines Sur. For their Field Instruction Program (FIP) this semester, Aedry Absalon, Janna Palmenco, Abigail Recarro and Abigail Soriano will work alongside community volunteers, facilitate barangay assemblies, support participatory situational analysis, and assist in the planning and monitoring of community projects.

The participation of the fourth year CSWCD students is expected to bring academic rigor, youth engagement and public service in tackling challenges like climate change, disasters, and persistent poverty through people-centered and locally grounded solutions. This undertaking is made possible through a Cash-for-Work Program to support the students’ subsistence and recognize their contributions in the communities.

This ongoing project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) and the University of the Philippines-College of Social Work and Community Development (UP-CSWCD) is being facilitated by faculty members of the Department of Social Work led by retired Professor Jocelyn Caragay, Assistant Professor Ana Teresa Prondosa and the Dean of UP-CSWCD Dr. Justin Francis Leon V. Nicolas.

The project is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) forged between the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the University of the Philippines (UP) on February 2, 2026. The MOU was signed to advance learning, research, and social development initiatives to transform the lives of the nation’s most poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors. It is committed to improve social protection through education, research, and theory-improved practice.

The MOU signing was led by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian and UP President Angelo A. Jimenez together with DSWD and UP Officials. Witnessing the signing were key UP Officials including Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Pe Symaco, Assistant Vice President for Administration Richard Javier and Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Ma. Shari Nina Oliquino. Also present in the signing were the College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) Dean Justin Francis Leon V. Nicolas, retired CSWCD Professor Joyce Caragay and Assistant Professor Ana Teresa Prondosa.

The MOU is expected to forge a strong collaboration in the co-development of learning programs, training courses, and knowledge initiatives to further harness and enhance the competencies of social welfare professionals and contribute to more inclusive, evidence-based, and responsive social protection services for more responsive and transformative programs.

CSWCD’s participation in the MOU is by fielding students that serve and assist rural communities achieve their development goals. CSWCD is collaborating with the KALAHI-CIDDS Program of DSWD through its Director and CSWCD alumna Atty. Bernadette Mapue – Joaquin in the selection, assignment and supervision of students. The students are now on ground, doing their share in charting professional development and helping achieve social progress in poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged rural communities.

Dean Nicolas believes that “the field instruction is an opportunity for students to appraise critically how principles of transformative social work is practiced in government community programs.

He recalled that Dr. Romeo Quieta was one of the pioneers of CIDSS indicators. “The College through its Field Instruction Program, may now assess if the original spirit of the indicators still remain to represent program claim of collective efforts towards poverty eradication,” he said.