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ECHELON REVIEW AND TRAINING CENTER

“Bringing Social Work Review at your doorstep”

SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES

Review Questions for Licensure Examination for Social Workers 2021
Mr. Jeffrey P. Razonabe, RSW, MSSW

This practice test will help you improve your thinking skills as well as to have an advanced
knowledge of the possible subject coverage of the licensure examination. Choose the best answer
to the following questions. Answer with integrity.

Situation 1:
Because of their limited resources, women farmers in Amulong, Cagayan, often have to
take out loans at exorbitant interest rates from village moneylenders before every planting
season to purchase fertilizers and other farming inputs. However, intense rains and
sudden floods, followed by an unexpected drought and an unusually high incidence of
insect infestations, caused their maize harvests to fail three seasons in a row, which meant
they have not been able to pay their debt. The creditors have sued them for estafa
(swindling), resulting in some women going to jail. (Source: Athena Peralta. Gender and
Climate Change Finance. A Case Study from the Philippines. November, 2008)

1. What is the presenting problem of the women farmers?

a. Huge unpaid loans
b. Weather adverse changes
c. Swindling case
d. All the above

2. What CO techniques can best address the problems of the women?

a. Use of expert/consultant
b. Situational analysis
c. a and b
d. None of the above

3. In this case, the first objective in CO would be:

a. Economic development of the women
b. Social development of the barangay
c. Upliftment from poverty
d. Resolution of the legal case

4. What is the role the CO worker will employ to help the women farmer find solutions of their
legal case?
a. Guide
b. Initiator
c. Advocate
d. Planner

5. Who are the stakeholders in this case?

a. Women farmers
b. Social worker
c. Money lenders
d. a and c

6. Since the women farmers are facing a legal case for not paying their huge debts, they
might feel helpless and apathetic, what CO strategy can be applied?
a. Organizing people for specific tasks, roles and functions
b. Use of conflict
c. Collaborative strategy
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d. Social brokerage

7. Ranking the problem results in the following:

a. 1st is the swindling case and 2nd is unpaid loan
b. 1st no livelihood projects and 2nd is unpaid loan
c. 1st poverty situation of the women and 2nd is the anger of the money lenders
d. All of the above

8. In assessment, what data will be important for the CO worker to gather?

a. Basic information of the women farmers and their families
b. Details and agreement on the loan amount
c. Pros and cons of the swindling case
d. All of the above

9. What CO model is most applicable in the case?

a. Social Planning
b. Community Development
c. Social Action
d. None of the above

10. What is the function that the CO worker will take during assessment stage?
a. Program Development
b. Fact finding
c. Coordination
d. Education
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11. What is the CO worker’s activity which aims to gain the acceptance and sanction of from
the community leaders of the CO worker’s presence and activities?
a. Survey
b. Community assembly
c. Courtesy call
d. All of the above

12. How do you call the sanction given to the social worker from being a registered
professional and for representing the agency?
a. Negotiated sanction
b. Official sanction
c. Certification
d. Community sanction

13. What is the data-gathering instrument which is primarily a self-report of the client,
containing information that the client is willing to divulge?
a. Observation
b. Self-survey questionnaire
c. Collateral information
d. None of the above

14. What is the stage in the CO process wherein the purposes, effective solutions and
activities to achieve the objectives of the community organization are defined?
a. Objective setting
b. Community assembly
c. Analysis
d. Planning

15. What is the CO Model which focus on community competence as a goal?

a. Community development
b. Social action
c. Baranganic approach
d. Social planning
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16. How do you call the community organizer’s role when during a meeting with other
agencies, the organizer presents the survey results of the socio-economic problems of the
community for purpose of program funding?
a. Broker
b. Initiator
c. Researcher
d. None of the above

17. What CO strategy is utilized when the CO worker forms community councils and
committees to help empower and create other centers of power in the community?
a. Education and training
b. Collaborative strategy
c. Social brokerage
d. Management of power

18. The CO worker joins in a protest activity by lobbying against the illegal demolition of a
client community, what CO role the worker is portraying?
a. Advocate
b. Enabler
c. Helper
d. Initiator

19. How do you call the tactic or careful plan devised to achieve a desired goal?
a. Technique
b. Plans
c. Strategy
d. All of the above

20. What is the type of community which refers to people in a specific geographic area or
village (e.g., sitio, barangay, town, province, country)?
a. Geographic community
b. Functional community
c. Indigenous community
d. Free community

Situation 2:
In a group meeting, a disagreement propped up if the members will show support to
their Congressman by joining in the political rally organized by the Congressman’s party.
The Congressman had donated financial assistance to the community organization. Some
members think they should support the Congressman having been their benefactor. But
some members said that the organization should maintain its being non-partisan. The
leaders asked each member of their stand/opinion, and discussed the positive and negative
implications of their possible decision and helped the group to arrive at a common decision.

21. What is the CO strategy that the community organizer can use in the case situation?
a. Broker
b. Initiator
c. Lobbying
d. Collaborative Strategy

22. Who are the major stakeholders in the case?

a. Mayor
b. Congressman
c. Group members
d. None of the above

23. What is the type of participation that the group members are doing?
a. Participation by consultation
b. Functional participation
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c. Passive participation
d. Participation in information giving

24. One of the CO values is the right of the client community to self-determination is portrayed
in the case through:
a. Discussion on the positive and negative implications of the group’s decision by
the leaders themselves.
b. Secure financial help from the Congressman.
c. Free expression of one’s opinion.
d. All of the above

25. In the case, the focus of the CO worker will be on:

a. Removal of blocks to growth
b. Strengthening people’s capacity for problem-solving, decision-making and
cooperation
c. The full use of inner/indigenous resources before tapping external resources
d. The release of potentialities in the individual, group and community as a whole

26. If a social worker will help the group in the discussion of the pros and cons of their decision,
the social worker is doing what is called?
a. Intake
b. Analysis
c. Diagnosis
d. All of the above

27. In the case, what is the decision-making process that the group leaders adopt to come up
with the common decision?
a. Consensus
b. Decision through votes
c. President’s Prerogative
d. Compromise

28. What community dynamic is in effect when the group members and leaders identify their
decision makers, the resources they affect and the power play involve in decision making?
a. Community economics
b. Community power structure
c. Community demographics
d. Basic understanding of the community

29. What is the CO stage of the community people as shown in the case?
a. Contract setting
b. Monitoring
c. Implementation
d. Planning

30. What is the function of a CO worker which secures and maintains adequate factual basis
for sound planning?
a. Coordination
b. Education
c. Fact finding
d. Advocate

Situation 3:
The siege in Marawi City started after terrorist groups attacked the city as
government troops tried to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. Maute group militants
attacked Camp Ranao and occupied several buildings in the city, including Marawi City
Hall, Mindanao State University, a hospital and the city jail. They also occupied the main
street and set fire to Saint Mary's Church, Ninoy Aquino School and Dansalan College, run
by the UCCP. The group also attacked the Marawi Cathedral, taking a priest and several
churchgoers hostage. Nearly 200 people, including state forces, terrorists and civilians,
have been killed since the fighting began.
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31. A deadly firefight erupted when Hapilon's forces opened fire on the combined Army &
police teams & called for reinforcements from the Maute group. From Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) perspective, this incident could be viewed as a type of hazard
based on:
a. Nature
b. Violence
c. Deterioration
d. A, B, C

32. The firefight then escalated into an armed conflict that has resulted to a serious disruption
of the functioning of Marawi, causing widespread human, material, environmental losses
which exceeded the ability of the affected communities to cope using only its own
resources. This situation is called?
a. War
b. Disaster
c. Rebellion
d. None of the above

33. “There are 59 more missing persons we are still trying to locate.” This operation involves
Maranaw religious leaders and traditional elders, the police, Army and Marines and
combined personnel of the office of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. and the
abovementioned ARMM’s team. What do you call this operation?
a. Early warning
b. Search & rescue
c. Retrieval operation
d. All of the above

34. What do we call persons who are affected by armed conflict?

a. Indigenous Persons (IPs)
b. Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)
c. Children In Conflict with the Law (CICL)
d. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

35. What do you call the provision of food, water, first aid kits & medicines, hygiene kits, non-
food items such as mosquito nets, mats, blankets, & malong to the victims of Marawi
siege?
a. Emergency aid
b. Relief
c. Dole-out
d. A, B, C

36. The Ilonggos are gathering and sending donations to residents of Marawi City dislocated
by the ongoing armed clashes between the Maute terror group and government troops.
This initiative or response is called?
a. Bayanihan
b. Damayan
c. Fund raising
d. Mobilization

37. Those who were rescued emerged visibly shaken & scared. Most had not eaten or drunk
anything for days. They came back with stories of fear; of days cowering in their houses
hiding from explosions & the terrorists. The intervention required is?
a. Crisis Intervention Stress Debriefing (CISD)
b. Psycho-social
c. Emotional
d. Ventilation

38. What tool that social workers will use to allow victims of disasters to verbalize their
feelings, fears, anxieties, recreating what happened during the disaster and helping them
undertake physical and emotional as well as spiritual measures to eventually overcome
their trauma?
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a. Disaster management
b. Psycho-social
c. Support
d. Crisis Intervention Stress Debriefing (CISD)

39. The organization of the evacuees in evacuation centers into helping teams is in
accordance with the CO value of “the right of the client community to what?
a. Self-determination
b. Bouncing back
c. Resiliency
d. Development

40. Permissible under the Islamic law, food has to be prepared in what way?
a. Halal
b. Special
c. Delicate
d. Taal

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41. Ang Samahang Magsasaka sa Bo. Ugong (SMBU) has been successful in their advocacy
to distribute the farmlands to their landless members. Now its members and leadership
are talking in terms of improving agricultural productivity and children’s health in their
community. They want to know first how they can respond to their own needs before
approaching the town mayor or anyone outside of their barrio. As a social worker, what
organizing model will you employ?
a. Locality Development
b. Social Planning
c. Action Plan
d. Social Action

42. What is considered as formal structure at the barangay level?

a. Barangay captain
b. Barangay Tanod
c. Sanguniang Barangay Council
d. BADAC (Barangay Anti-Drug Action Committee)

43. For the group of fisher folks who is engaged in dynamite fishing in the locality, if you are
the assigned social worker, what would you do to help them?
a. Provision of livelihood program
b. Information drive about illegal fishing
c. Conduct of seminars and trainings
d. All of the above

44. You are employed at a community health center. In a cost cutting move the city council is
seeking to reduce the budget for health which will definitely reduce the number of service
program of your center. Several residents have asked you to assist them in maintaining
present level of programs. What organizing model will you employ?
a. Social action
b. Action Plan
c. Social Planning
d. Locality Development

45. Edna is organizing a group of ordinary workers in a garment factory that is apparently
underpaid and overworked. Given this situation, what kind of community is Edna trying to
organize?
a. Functional community
b. National community
c. Geographic community
d. Village community
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46. What do you call the accomplishment of a concrete task that is meant to meet a specific
need and achieve a concrete goal or objective?
a. Task Goal
b. Personal Goal
c. Process Goal
d. Relationship Goal

47. Who is the main proponent of the use of conflict confrontation in social action model in
community organizing?
a. Jack Rothman
b. Saul Alinsky
c. Paolo Freire
d. Abraham Maslow

48. What CO model emphasizes a technical process of problem-solving with regards to

substantive social problems, such as delinquency, housing needs, through a rational,
deliberate plan, and controlled change?
a. Psychosocial Approach
b. Interactionist Approach
c. Social Action
d. Social Planning

49. In the termination phase, some clients will try to negotiate an extension of time or a
modified schedule of the worker. Some offer promises or gifts. What specific client reaction
is being referred here?
a. Depression
b. Acceptance
c. Bargaining
d. Denial

50. This model perceives client as usually conceived of as some community subpart or
segment which suffers at the hand of the broader community and thus needs the special
support of the practitioner:
a. Social Planning
b. Social Action
c. Locality Development
d. None of the above

Situation 4:
This coastal community is located about 70 km, from the City proper. A typical
rural community with mountains and rice fields, it covers approximately 1000 hectares.
The people are 90% Cebuano while the rest are from Luzon. Their sources of income are
fishing and farming. In the farm, even women perform heavy work to assist the men folk.
Their water is taken from an open dug well and from a mountain spring, both located at a
distance from their houses. Incidences of diarrhea and ameobiasis had been traced to
unsanitary water source. This endemic problem affected a number of children these past
months. There was lack of community action, for no one individual or official had initiated
any move to do something about the problem.

Fatima is a social worker who works for an organization that aims to support the
education of children through child sponsorship. Her job is to make case studies of the
children, monitor their school attendance and provide family welfare services. She is
greatly concerned about the health condition of the children.

51. What other roles can Fatima, the social worker, perform in the community other than
making case studies?
a. Group worker
b. Community Organizer
c. Facilitator
d. Trainer
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52. What community organizing approach can likely be effective in this case?
a. Faith/Church-based approach
b. Locality development approach
c. Socio-economic approach
d. Issue-based approach

53. Using the strengths perspective, what are the strengths of the community?
a. There are abundant natural resources like the sea and land where they get their
sources of income.
b. Source of water comes from a mountain spring.
c. There is a development NGO working in the area.
d. All of the above

54. In raising the community’s level of awareness on their problem of water-borne sickness,
the worker can motivate the people to act on these problems through:
a. Open discussion of the problem and possible options
b. Using report of medical personnel
c. Educational campaign
d. All of the above

55. What data need to be gathered and presented if the worker has to dramatize the problem
in the barangay that needs action?
a. Income levels
b. Housing
c. Morbidity and mortality rates
d. Road condition

56. The following health related conditions EXCEPT ONE maybe the cause of the
community‘s problem.
a. Poor nutrition
b. Bad roads
c. Unsafe drinking water
d. Unsanitary waste disposal

57. A church leader requested Fatima, the social worker to help the community on their water
problem. In accordance to the helping process principles, what will Fatima do in the initial
phase?
a. Conduct community assembly
b. Conduct environmental scanning
c. Pay a courtesy call on Barangay officials
d. Conduct home visit

58. What participatory problem analysis tool that Fatima can use to deepen the analysis of the
problem and prioritize appropriate actions to address the problems in the community?
a. Problem Tree Analysis
b. SWOT analysis
c. Community mapping
d. All of the above

59. Social workers at all levels practice this role which involves pleading the cause of another
or speaking up or supporting what one believes in. What is this community practitioner’s
role?
a. Community organizer
b. Advocate
c. Trainer/teacher
d. Fundraiser

60. Based on the case, if ranking of the community problems will be done, the result will be?
a. High incidence of diarrhea and ameobiases, unsanitary water supply and
incompetent leadership
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b. Lack of family livelihood and income, incompetent leadership and epidemic of diarrhea
c. Incompetent leadership
d. None of the above

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61. In community education what remains the most important source of information and
persuasion?
a. Interpersonal
b. Radio and television
c. Seminars and trainings
d. Posters and leaflets

62. What are the two major interrelated components of Social Planning Model?
a. Socio-Political and Technical Tasks
b. Social Problem and Analysis
c. Socio-Economic and Organizing Tasks
d. Political and Economic Tasks

63. What is the basic value of CO that is premised on the belief that people as social beings
must not limit themselves to their own concerns but should reach out to and move jointly
with others in meeting common needs and problems?
a. Human rights
b. Social justice
c. Social responsibility
d. Social equity

64. What do you call the desired outcome, whether it means adding needed services, shifting
the balance of power from the haves to the have-nots, reducing isolation, or developing
and implementing more effective policies?
a. Community organizing
b. Community planning
c. Community development
d. Community change

65. What is your primary role as a community organizer?

a. To administer agency programs
b. To facilitate the development process
c. To oversee project implementation
d. To teach people basic skills

66. When the Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) was first introduced in the Philippines, it
started in these two areas:
a. Manila and Bulacan
b. Negros & Mindanao
c. Davao and Bicol
d. None of the Above

67. These are some approaches in engaging in social action, EXCEPT ONE:
a. Know the community, identify the problems
b. Encourage leadership, create structures
c. Identify contacts, recruit community members
d. Confrontation with the barangay officials

68. These are some examples of the modern-day Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs),
EXCEPT ONE:
a. Prayer meeting
b. Organizing for social action
c. Bible Study/Sharing
d. Tone down or abandon the social action/prophetic component
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69. CO Practitioner uses social action as a model seeking the redistribution of the following:
a. Power, resources, decision-making
b. Officials, resources, policies
c. Livelihood, position, decisions
d. Justice, power and resources

70. Community organization is a continuous and sustained process of the following EXCEPT
ONE:
a. Mobilizing people to respond and take action on their needs
b. Educating people towards an awareness of their situation
c. Organizing people to work collectively on their problems
d. Contributing to a work-exchange among groups

Situation 5:
After the Barangay Elections, the newly elected officials prepare to assume their
duties. These include the punong barangay, barangay council members, barangay
treasurer, barangay secretary, lupon, tanods, and purok leaders. They attended a
leadership seminar for 3 days. One of their main tasks was the formulation of a barangay
development plan.

You are the CO worker assigned at the said barangay implementing a project on
governance.

71. What law governs the management of local government units and paved the way for the
decentralization of basic social services to the local governments to better response to the
needs of their constituents?
a. R.A. 7610
b. R.A. 7160
c. R.A. 4373
d. R.A. 10121

72. What determines the type of C.O. model to be used in working with communities?
a. Dictate of the agency
b. Political influence
c. Preference of the worker
d. Nature of the problem

73. What might be the roles of the community organizer in the above situation?
a. Facilitator
b. Trainer
c. Resource person/consultant
d. All of the above

74. The content of training of these barangay officials includes the following EXCEPT ONE,
which are important in discharging their functions.
a. Personality Development
b. Planning
c. Problem identification
d. Decision- making

75. In using the barangay structure as point of entry in working with communities, what
approach is used?
a. MBN approach
b. Baranganic approach
c. Holistic approach
d. Total family approach

76. In the case, in attaining their main task, the C.O. approach/ model used to use is?
a. Community development
b. Social action
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c. Social research
d. Social planning

77. What local body is responsible for the formulation, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of the of the barangay development plan?
a. DILG
b. Sangguniang Panlalawigan
c. Barangay Development Council
d. BCPC

78. Capability building among the barangay officials can be achieved through?
a. Seminars, symposia and fora
b. Exposure trip to model barangays
c. Sharing of news, insights and experiences
d. All of the above

79. What are the goals that are concern with the concrete tasks to be undertaken, to meet
specific needs and people’s aspirations or to solve particular problems?
a. Main goals
b. Task goals
c. Process goals
d. Relationship goals

80. In working with the barangay officials in the community, the worker shall endeavor to
eradicate ignorance, negative social values, factionalism and oppressive structures.
What do you call this focus in CO?
a. People empowerment
b. Literacy empowerment
c. Political empowerment
d. Removal of blocks to growth

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81. The worker uses this most implied model in working with communities where he/she
informs and interprets the community conditions to the people who are rich, have material
resources and are influential in the community in solving the problems. How you call this
activity of the worker?
a. Documentation
b. Social Action
c. CD
d. Working with the elite

82. What is the ideology that addressed a wide variety of issues related to capitalism which
includes alienation and exploitation of the worker, the capitalist mode of production and
interprets human history as history of class struggles?
a. Marxism
b. Sexism
c. Classism
d. Feminism

83. What is the CO phase where formulation of guidelines and indices for identification of
partner communities is done?
a. Helping phase
b. Pre-helping phase
c. Implementation
d. Evaluation

84. What method of data gathering is this that use maps, census data, newspapers and school
records?
a. Records analysis
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b. Collateral information
c. Observation
d. Survey report

85. What data-gathering method can be used in order to know better the values of the
community, sentiments and potentials, community resources, inter-relationships, patterns
of behavior, leadership patterns and capabilities can be well identified through this data-
gathering method?
a. Community assembly
b. Collateral information
c. Observation
d. Survey report

86. What is the stage in the CO process wherein purposes are defined, choosing effective
solutions and means of carrying out those decisions in order to achieve objectives?
a. Objective setting
b. Planning
c. Analysis
d. Evaluation

87. What do you call the agreement between and among people or groups of people to
conduct a particular task, achieve a specific objective and working conditions, so they can
smoothly and meaningfully develop responsibility and accountability?
a. Objective setting
b. Evaluation
c. Planning
d. Contract setting

88. What is the qualification of performance factors, a unit of measurement used as a standard
against which to evaluate performance?
a. Success indicators
b. Specific objectives
c. Goals
d. Performance goals

89. What do you call the process of determining whether the objectives, if the contract agreed
upon by the worker and client and success indicators have been achieved?
a. Termination
b. Monitoring
c. Evaluation
d. Recommendation

90. What is this CO function where the worker formulates the project proposals as part of its
activities?
a. Fact finding
b. Program development
c. Coordination
d. Broker
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Situation 6
You are community organizer of a social welfare agency based in the mainland of
Mindoro and you are assigned in an island coastal community of the said province. You are
expected to spend most of your time with the people in the island barangay.
In the mainland, there are government, church-related and non-government
organizations that have economic programs including livelihood. These organizations include,
among others, organizations that strive to serve not only the people in the mainland but also
those in the surrounding islets.
This barangay community to which you are assigned has a population of 600 families
most of whom are very poor. Their livelihood is mainly fishing which provides them food and a
small income for each family. The coastal waters are rich in seaweeds but the people know
only how to include them in their daily meals.
The community has only a barangay hall, a small playground, a day care center for the children,
and an elementary school for the school-age children and, of course, the hundreds of small
huts and a few good houses. Poverty is the main picture; and health is also an immediate
problem. Most children are malnourished. Child mortality is high due to lack of effective
responses to illnesses that hit them. Child labor is also high as most elementary graduates
have no way to proceed to their high school but to join their parents in the sea.
The barangay captain and the barangay council members just don’t know what to do
in the face of poverty, malnutrition and ill-health and lack of a secondary school for those who
have finished their elementary.

91. The priority problems of the barangay are?

a. Poverty
b. Health and malnutrition
c. Child mortality and child labor
d. All of the above

92. What are the human resources of the community?

a. 600 families
b. Children including working children
c. Barangay captain and barangay council
d. All of the above

93. What are the significant resources in the broader community which may be mobilized to
help in the development efforts of the particular community?
a. Government organization
b. Church-related organization
c. NGOs
d. All of the above

94. Based on the case, what do you think the community people wants to achieve in the next
five or more years?
a. A community where there are facilities, opportunities and resource for all children to
achieve education, realize their rights and to lay the ground for better future.
b. A community where people, children and government equipped with the knowledge,
skills and attitudes to live and work together effectively and their common goals and
aspirations.
c. A community free from poverty, ill-health, malnutrition, child labor, abundant
means of livelihood and development for all people.
d. Any of the above

95. In introducing yourself as the worker of your organization and your assignment to the
community, who you will see first?
a. Government officials
b. Church officials/parish priest
c. People including informal leaders
d. All of the above

96. As the worker, to whom you should do integration or immersion with?

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a. Barangay officials and employers

b. Leaders of people’s organizations
c. Community people especially the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable
d. Any of the above

97. As you start the community organizing process, who will be the leaders of the core
group?
a. Barangay officials
b. Leaders appointed by the parish priest and other established leaders of the
community
c. Leaders who are close to the Municipal/City Mayor and/ or municipal council
d. Community leaders who have been found to be most committed to
development, have knowledge regarding development work and have been
involved in community activities.

98. What is the BEST thing to do in response to child labor problem?

a. Prohibit children from working in the seas
b. Address the poverty problem of the families
c. Conduct educational campaign on child labor
d. All of the above

99. As the community organizer in the case, what do you want to achieve relative to the
barangay officials?
a. Non-interference by the barangay officials
b. Barangay officials as one of the leading forces in community development
efforts in the barangay
c. Partnership with barangay officials
d. None of the above

100. What is a glaring weakness among the people vis-à-vis the resource in the
community?
a. Laziness
b. Contentment with the present situation
c. Lack of knowledge, skills and creativity
d. None of the above