TABUK CITY, Kalinga – During the Sangguniang Panlungsod regular session on February 27, 2024, Councilor Ivan Yannick Bagayao proposed an ordinance entitled the “Mental Health Code of 2024” which will establish a mental health program and delivery system in Tabuk City.
According to Bagayao, the city’s policy is to protect citizens’ rights to mental health and promote mental health awareness among them.
In order to provide appropriate services and interventions, including provisions for mental health protection, care, treatment, and other crucial services to those with mental illness or disability, the city is required by the proposed ordinance to adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to the development of the City Mental Health Care Delivery System.
As stated in the proposed ordinance, a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office in 2000 revealed that mental illness is the third most common form of disability in the country, next to visual and hearing impairments, and that there are an average of 88 reported cases of mental illness per 100,000 Filipinos, which are usually caused by hereditary, psychosocial, and substance abuse.
In the report of the CHSO on February 26, 2024, there were 28 cases of mental illness recorded in 2023, of which 17 were males and 11 were females. Six completed suicide incidents were also recorded last year. From January to February, five cases of suicide have been recorded: two attempted and three completed, and the numbers include two females and three males.
It is stated in the proposal that mental health services are clearly lacking and that human and financial resources are still inadequate.
Moreover, there is a need to include mental health in the public health and hospital systems in order to render available, accessible, affordable, and equitable quality mental health care and services to the constituents of the city, especially the poor, undeserved, and high-risk populations.
The proposal calls for the creation of a Tabuk City Mental Health Committee under the City Health Services Office in order to develop and implement the City Mental Health Care Delivery System, which will enable a consistent, logical, and coordinated response to mental health issues, concerns, and efforts. By Ian Addatu