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Proposed Mental Health Bill

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MikeLigalig.com:
KABAYAN PARTY-LIST
(Kabalikat ng Mamamayan)
For more information, contact:
Rep. Ron P. Salo 0917-729-2437
Twitter:  @KABAYAN_Ron

MENTAL HEALTH BILL FORGED AT BICAM, RATIFICATION SEEN THIS WEEK

Senators and congressmen were able to forge a reconciled version of their proposed mental health bills and expect to ratify it before Congress goes on its holiday break this Friday, KABAYAN Party-list Rep. Ron Salo said.

Salo, one of the six bicameral conference committee members and author of a bill that became part of the House version of the mental health bill, said the penal provisions of the reconciled bill are enough to empower implementing agencies.

"The six months to two years of prison time plus the civil and administrative sanctions would be enough deterrent against non-compliance, but consistent and effective performance will make the law achieve its purposes," the KABAYAN congressman said.

The prison penalty is for:
1) Discrimination against a person with mental disorder;

2) Failure to secure informed consent of the service user (person with mental disorder), unless falls under the exceptions;

3) Unauthorized disclosure of a person with a mental disorder’s confidential personal information; and

4) Torture, cruel, inhumane, harmful or degrading treatment, which are not medically or scientifically-based.

Other legislators on the House panel are Rep. Angelina Tan (Chair), Rep. Chiqui Roa-Puno, Rep. Arlene Arcillas, Rep. Edcel Lagman, and Rep. Ruffy Biazon. Their Senate counterparts are Sen. JV Ejercito (Chair), Majority Leader Tito Sotto, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, and Sen. Bam Aquino.

The Department of Health estimate on fatal suicide in the country is at five Filipinos everyday but that figure is considered low because of under-reporting due to social stigma attached to suicide and mental health problems.

BACKGROUND

More Filipinos can come out of the shadows of social stigma if only they knew that some mental health problems are covered by PhilHealth. Yes, there is PhilHealth coverage for mental health issues: https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/circulars/2010/circ09_2010.pdf

One study, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146433/ using data spanning 1974 to 2005, observed that “there was a decrease in the incidence of suicide in the 1970s and early 1980s, but since then rates have been steadily increasing in both sexes; rates rose from 0.23 to 3.59 per 100,000 between 1984 and 2005 in males and from 0.12 to 1.09 per 100,000 in females.” (END)

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