THE SENATE will support moves to increase the Department of Education’s budget to allow it to hire more guidance counselors.

The assurance was made by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri following the DepEd’s report that 404 youth students nationwide took their own lives during School Year 2021-2022.

“The number of suicides by students are quite alarming,” Zubiri said.

The Senate President was hopeful that the plan of Vice President Sara Duterte to hire more guidance counselors and re-train the existing ones will be a big help in reaching out to students in need of mental health support.

Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee chairman Juan Edgardo Angara said they are pushing for a measure which would have Philhealth packages cover therapy sessions and other mental health needs.

Angara said this would help curb the increasing number of young people taking their lives.