DUMPER Party-list Representative Claudine Diana Bautista-Lim filed a measure that will make mental health services in education institutions accessible.

House Bill 7166 or the proposed Accessibility of Mental Health Services in Philippine Education Institutions Act of 2023 will mandate the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to establish Mental Health Offices with hotlines and dedicated and trained guidance counselors to assist the students.

Bautista-Lim said Filipino students, particularly children and teenagers, face severe mental health threats due to the Covid19 pandemic.

“They are particularly susceptible to these harms, yet there are still no coherent, all-encompassing measures for halting the decline of their mental health,” the lawmaker said.

“When Congress passed the Mental Health Law, it believes that mental health contributes to psychological and mental well-being. Now, we see that access to the same shall be made available to our children and students in school facilities, as we hold that promoting mental health is likely to benefit communities and nations where millions of people live by giving mental health the priority it deserves,” Bautista-Lim said.