MARIKINA Second District Rep. Stella Quimbo is urging the Commission on Higher Education to provide online consultations in order to respond to the worsening mental health issues among students, teachers and members of various faculties.

The lawmaker stressed that online consultations had been successfully applied and implemented in Marikina City.

“Nagawa na po natin ito sa Marikina, at naniniwala akong kaya ring ipatupad ang TeleKonsulta sa ibang lugar,” Quimbo said.

Quimbo further said that CHED has a huge responsibility to ensure that all higher education institutions, whether public or private, are offering quality programs for Filipino students.

In addition, Quimbo explained that those who finished college courses should be entitled to more opportunities, particularly jobs that will earn them enough income to address their family’s daily needs.

In her 26 years as college professor at the University of the Philippines, Quimbo said she had been a guide of the youth to fulfilling their dreams.

The House has approved House Bill 6416 seeking to strengthen the mental health services of the state universities and colleges while Senate President Francis Escudero pushed for the passage of the Senate version of the bill.

Based on the records of the Department of Health, in 2018 there is an estimated 15.4 million Filipinos who were suffering from depression and 1 million from schizophrenia.