THERE are so many crimes committed by Filipinos, some on the verge of being heinous, which are originating from their psyche, the state of their mind, the very soul and spirit.
Intelligent researches have to be done to remedy this. The answer was found. In the level of governance, there must be a law which should center on the Mental Health of the citizens to be able to solve these age old problems.
The Senate has enacted the law. It came quite late after the events I mentioned above had happened. As they say, it is better to be late than never. The term psychopath came out in the netizens posts, unfortunately referring to the way the President is ruling the country.
I dug into the premise of this statement by these possible meanings credited to the term. It can mean mentally deranged, emotionally unstable, whimsical, capricious, fanciful, inordinate change of mind or conduct, a freak, an eccentric person.
You be the judge after reading the full explanation of the bill on Mental Health passed by the Senate. Remember, we are including all Filipino citizens in our research and not just the President. We see the urgency of following the provisions of the law to be sure that the ills of our present society will be remedied and finally solved.
Senator Riza Hontiveros sponsored the Senate Bill on Mental Health no.1354. Principal author of the bill is Senate Majority Leader, Vicente Sotto III. Co-authors are Senators Loren Legarda, Antonio Trillanes, Bam Aquino, Edgardo Angara, and Joel Villanueva. Mental Health advocates led by Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa, Antonnete Taus, and Jerika Ejercito lauded the passage of the Bill.
This is a liberation for all Filipinos who have mental health problems to suffer silently in the dark. They will not endure the hidden illness and fight an invisible war. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported some 2,558 cases of Filipinos committing suicide, averaging seven suicides per day. The Department of Health reported that Filipino adults have some kind of mental illnesses. These are topped with schizophrenia, a sickness marked by mental dissociation, delusions, or inability to distinguish reality from imagination, depression and anxiety.
It is about time to have Mental Health Bill to assuage the discomfort of all Filipinos suffering from mental health issues. They cannot bear all the feelings of being branded as mental cases.
Senator Angara called the members of the House of Representatives, the congressmen, to approve the measures and implement them. On October 2016, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial signed an Administrative Order (AO) on the national implementation of the Mental Health Program. Comprehensive development will be implemented at all levels of the health system, health rural unit, the Barangay Health sector and other interested communities.
Each of these must draw a work agenda which are the following- How to implement the program; that is in charge, strategies to be followed depending on the needs of the community, activities at each level should be defined so that there is no overlapping of the same kind.
The financing figures have been done. The cost per 2017 budget is 220 million. Allocation of 1.2 billion for preparation of the mental health personnel's leaders; for the facilities, and maintenance costs. These are the figures on who will need the services.
According to the Philippine Mental Health status, there are 154 million suffering from depression, 25 million suffer schizophrenia, 800,000 die due to suicide, 46.8 million suffer from Alzheimer's diseases and other dementia.
It came to my mind how all these humongous situations could have been prevented if we start from the unit of society, the family.
An ideal family with a father and a mother and their children reared in a home, not just a house. Homes where rudiments of love, respect, cooperation, right manners, correct conduct are present. These are all intangibles, they are caught not taught. Parents are the perfect examples for their children to follow.
I remember an incorrigible student of mine who say bad words in class. I requested the parents to see me in school about this. When the father came, he started to scold his son with the same bad words. You see. That's what I mean. After the home, the schools take over the rearing of the children. The same technique of the ideal parents must be followed by teachers. There will be no mental problems with these children. They will grow into adulthood with all these good foundations.
Family is the smallest unit of society. Give me a nation with good and ideal families which will form a good nation and at its largest, a good world living with peace and harmony, with happiness and prosperity. Now you realize mental health starts from a home. Try it. It works. Let all the persons needing mental health remedies from their self-inflicted problems try their best to rehabilitate themselves. There is still hope. Discipline is a vital factor here.
For comments text cellphone number (0920) 211-2534.
