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Rep. LRay Villafuerte has authored a bill that seeks to address the rising rates of suicide among Filipino youth through intervention and prevention programs. The bill tasks the Department of Education to include life education and peer counseling programs in schools to foster positive mental health. It also calls for the institutionalization of a Youth Suicide Prevention program to ensure the mental health needs of youth are addressed. The bill aims to curb the surge in youth suicide primarily caused by depression through these proposed actions and programs in schools.

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Fact

Rep. LRay Villafuerte has authored a bill that seeks to address the rising rates of suicide among Filipino youth through intervention and prevention programs. The bill tasks the Department of Education to include life education and peer counseling programs in schools to foster positive mental health. It also calls for the institutionalization of a Youth Suicide Prevention program to ensure the mental health needs of youth are addressed. The bill aims to curb the surge in youth suicide primarily caused by depression through these proposed actions and programs in schools.

Uploaded by

Raymund Magno Garlitos
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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From “New bill seeks timely intervention for suicidal youth” by Ellison Quismorio, Manila Bulletin, August 27,

2018,
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/27/new-bill-seeks-timely-intervention-for-suicidal-youth/

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte authored and filed House Bill (HB) No.7858, titled, “An Act to
provide youth suicide intervention and prevention.” It remains pending with the House Committee on Health.

Under the bill, Villafuerte wants the Department of Education (DepEd) to include “life education” and peer
counseling programs in the syllabus to foster positive mental health among elementary and high school
students

The House Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman also tasks in his bill the DepEd to institutionalize the
Youth Suicide Prevention program to ensure “that the mental health needs of our youth are taken cared of.”

He hopes to put in check the surge in youth suicides–primarily resulting from depression–with these actions.

Youth suicide became a key talking point during a Senate Committee on Youth hearing on the National
Poison Management and Control Center’s report. According to the report, Filipino kids as young as 10 years
old have committed suicide due to depression.

A study on the prevalence of suicide attempts among Filipino youth showed that roughly one in 10 Filipino
youth aged 15 to 27 has considered suicide an option, noted the Bicol solon.

The measure states that Life Planning Education or LPE “shall require lectures and discussions on self and
identity; personal, family, community values; communication and interrelationship with others; sexuality and
gender roles; community participation; health; psychological thinking and employment, among others.”

Training shall be provided to school administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and other school
personnel responsible for delivering LPE, Villafuerte said.

On the other hand, implementing a peer counseling program in schools will encourage positive mental
health for students.

“It should include a peer counseling training course that teaches basic counseling skills as well as a mentor-
mentee program to stimulate relationship and confidence building and skill and academic motivation,” he
said.

=====

Excerpt from “Mental Health of Filipinos today” in Sara Soliven Guzman’s “As a Matter of Fact”, August 27, 2018
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/08/27/1846128/mental-health-filipinos-today

World Suicide Prevention Day will be observed on September 10. According to the International Association
for Suicide Prevention (or IASP), three thousand people die everyday by suicide or an estimate of one million
per year. By year 2020, the estimated number of deaths will rise to 1.5 million per year.

The Philippines has the highest number of depressed people in Southeast Asia. The National Statistics Office
reported that mental illness is the third most common form of disability in the country. Records show a high
number of cases among the youth.

The study conducted by the Global Burden of Disease in 2015 reported that 3.3. million Filipinos suffer from
depressive disorders, with suicide rates in 2.5 males and 1.7 females per 100,000. The World Health
Organization, however, thinks that the numbers could be just a portion of the actual problem, especially
because in a Catholic country like ours, talking about mental health creates a stigma among Filipinos, thus
suicide incidents could be under-reported.

In recent years, non-government organizations in cooperation with medical experts started working with the
government to establish anti-suicide measures. One of these organizations is the Natasha Goulbourne
Foundation (NGF). The foundation’s advocacy is bringing depression to light through awareness by
information dissemination and education, suicide prevention and lessen the stigma associated with this
disease. The organization envisions all Filipinos and everyone in the Philippines to achieve the best possible
mental and emotional health.

NGF has HOPELINE, a 24/7 Suicide Prevention and Emotional Crisis hotline in partnership with Globe,
Consuelo Foundation, BPI Foundation, SM Foundation and the Chito Madrigal Foundation.

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