San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan Rep. Florida Robes: An advocate for mental health with her privilege speech CHANGING FACES
CHANGING FACES by Rep. Florida Robes Sunday, October 27, 2019
As a lawmaker, Rep. Florida "Rida" Robes has made sure that the legislation that she helps craft are timely. She addresses developing issues In the hope of coming up with sustainable solutions and benefits to the public.
Rep. Robes is an advocate for mental health, this is a pressing issue worldwide and according to her, she have seen it in personally with the people around her and first hand as well and because of that, she wanted to make sure the she can do her best to fight the battle against depression.
Robes happens to be one of the most passionate advocates of measures that would improve the mental health programs in the country. In her privilege speech this August, Robes highlighted the need for the country's educational system to take into consideration the state of student's mental health.
“In one public high school in a barangay in our town, 10 students, all teenagers, died of suicide due to mental health issues, in a span of one year. Many of the cases are related to online bullying,”
“Depression needs to be treated. Early intervention can come in the form of caring. It helps a lot when a depressed individual knows someone cares,” says Rep. Rida. She would have been a graduate of Psychology course if she didn't shift to Hotel and Restaurant Management.
Recently, Rida, with other lawmakers like Pangasinan Rep. Baby Arenas and Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer, signed a partnership with Korean-based Sunfull Foundation, an international non-governmental organization that further raises mental health awareness among young individuals and helps combat cyberbullying.
In her privilege speech, Robes lamented that social media platforms seems to have exacerbated the depression experienced by young people. Indeed, the. technology-driven platforms expo. students to emotionally hostile encounters such as cyber bullying.
In light of the chaotic online environment that people have to deal with, Robes — who represents the lone district of San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan — wants to cultivate positive Internet culture. "With everything goig digital, we're all spending more time interacting with others online. This is a welcome development because this means we're keeping up with the rest of the world," the congresswoman said...However. we also have to deal with the negative effects of being online. Cybebullying and other hostile or criminal acts online can be done in an instant."
Robes lamented that people, for instance, have come to expect online attacks when they share their thoughts online. She pointed out: "We know we can't please everyone, but it seerns that going online often draws out the most negative or destructive people. This can't go on. This prevents us from fully enjoying the benefits of going digital...
In a recent privilege speech titled “Changing Faces” she delivered at the House of Representatives, Rida talked about the “changed faces” of the young Filipinos: “depressive and suicidal.” Citing sources, Rida said the depressive and suicidal Filipinos come from ages 13 to 25.
“In our country, the rise in the number of suicide cases and youth with mental health issues maybe attributed to a convergence of risk factors like social disconnection and weakening of helpful factors like genuine relationships and healthy lifestyles,” she said in her privilege speech.
To help bring back the “smiley” on these “changed faces,” Rida calls upon government institutions, particularly the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, to “formulate and implement an ethical orientation program anchored on the teaching of moral and philosophical values... that are necessary for human survival.”
She also spoke of the need of the Department of Health to step up the implementation of Republic Act 11036 or the Philippine Mental Health Law, particularly the launching of strong and widely promoted anti-suicide helplines.
In her speech, she also sought help to address the difficulty of hiring licensed guidance counselors as Republic Act 9258 or the Guidance Counseling Act of 2004 prescribes steep licensing requirements.
It's the merriest season of the year and all the more that they should highlight caring for each and everyone. Rep. Rida is sure that she won't forget to care for the students who feels they are alone and those who wishes to say something about bullying. Depression should stop and caring more should start.
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