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[av_heading heading=’ House unanimously OKs mental health care bill’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO and PRINCE GOLEZ
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MANILA – The House of Representatives unanimously passed its version of the bill that seeks to allow Filipinos to have better access to mental health services.
Lawmakers voted 223-0 on Monday afternoon to approve on third and final reading the Comprehensive Mental Health Care bill.
House Bill No. 6452 seeks to establish the Philippine Council for Mental Health, which shall provide the government with a coherent, rational and unified response to mental health problems, concerns and efforts through the formulation and implementation of the National Mental Health Care Delivery Services System.
The House bill will skip the bicameral conference committee hearing and go straight to Malacañang for the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte if its provisions are similar with the Senate version, which was approved in May.
“This is a landmark measure that will make timely and necessary mental health care services accessible to all Filipinos, regardless of their status in life, not only in hospitals but also in community health facilities,” said the author, Rep. Chiqui Roa-Puno (Antipolo).
“Mental health, after all, is as vital as physical health in promoting overall well-being of all Filipinos, a right guaranteed under Article XIII, Section 11 of our Constitution,” she added.
Under the National Mental Health Care Delivery Services System, local governments are mandated to upgrade hospitals and facilities with adequate and qualified personnel, equipment and supplies in providing mental health services and addressing psychiatric emergencies.
Regional, provincial and tertiary hospitals shall provide facility-based mental health services under the system that also promotes community-based mental health care, the House bill said.
The measure also provided that drug dependents shall undergo assessment and examination and – if diagnosed with a clinical condition – shall have the right to mental health care services.
Senators welcomed the passage of the House mental health care bill.
Joel Villanueva said this “important policy” seeks to standardize the collection and management of data and promote evidence-based research on youth suicide, and institutionalize a 24/7 national hotline for suicide prevention.
Juan Edgardo Angara, meanwhile, urged the bicameral committee to meet immediately to reconcile the bill’s versions.
“It’s about time that we enact a mental health law. We are one of the very few countries today that has no national mental health policy,” said Angara.
A 2012 World Health Organization report stated that the Philippines has the highest incidence of depression – an estimated 4.5 million – among ASEAN member-countries.
“Our people with mental health needs should no longer suffer silently in the dark. They should no longer endure an “invisible illness” and fight an invisible war,” Angara added./PN
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