Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen encouraged the newly elected officers of the Social Workers Employees Association of the Philippines (SWEAP) to foster open dialogue within the union, stand firm against wrongdoing regardless of who commits it, represent those who remain unheard, and uphold public service.

Leonen emphasized these points during the oath-taking and induction of the newly elected SWEAP officers at the Matapat Hall of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Quezon City.

"The offer always arrives. Knowing that you have enough will make it easier for you to meet the difficult challenges ahead of you.”

Likewise, Leonen underscored the vital role of public sector unions in addressing poverty, promoting accountability, and advancing social justice.

In his keynote message, Leonen stressed that while public sector employees enjoy the constitutional right to organize into unions, they are not granted the right to strike, unlike their counterparts in the private sector.

As a result, public sector unions advance their causes through dialogue, advocacy, and negotiation.

“A public sector union is therefore a strange institution. It cannot withhold labor. It persuades, or it accomplishes nothing at all... A public sector union that does not speak has disarmed itself. Silence in a private union is a tactic. Silence in a government union is surrender. It is the voluntary abandonment of the only principal weapon the law has left in its hands.”

Drawing from SWEAP’s charter, Leonen identified three core responsibilities of a public sector union: promoting member welfare, ensuring accountability, and pursuing social justice.

He explained that fair compensation, manageable workloads, workplace safety, and security of tenure are essential forms of support for social workers and other personnel who serve vulnerable communities, especially during disasters and other crises.

“The people who carry the compassion of the state also carry its cost. A worker who is exhausted, indebted, and afraid, delivers social justice to no one,” Leonen explained, adding that “welfare is not the opposite of mandate.”

On accountability, Leonen noted that instances of corruption are often first recognized by employees directly involved in government processes. He said unions provide workers with the collective support needed to speak out against wrongdoing without fear of isolation.

“Accountability is therefore not an extra advocacy for whenever there is time. It is the reason that protection exists,” Leonen said.

He also emphasized that social justice is a constitutional duty carried out through the work of public servants. He urged unions to advocate not only for their members but also for those who have no voice in government.

Leonen added that public assistance should be delivered as a matter of right rather than charity.