AS MENTAL health in the Philippines is recognized as part of the basic human rights, Davao City Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte plans to put up a separate mental health division and develop a community-based program.

During the Pulong-Pulong ni Pulong (PPP) on Tuesday, September 24, Villafuerte said that she will propose that each district should have at least one psychologist, one mental health nurse and one mental health social worker.

"We have done four or five committee hearings and we are all in agreement na indeed we need a mental health division," Villafuerte said.

"Once we pass the mental health ordinance, we will be creating the mental health division," she said, adding that they will try to move the program from hospital-based to community-based.

The proposal will not only be separate mental health division but also a community-based mental health program since there are also mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, where patients are not needed to be admitted.

The mental health centers in each district will have the authority to treat or diagnose a patient and medicines will be available so that patients will no longer need to go to institute of Psychiatric Behavioral Medicine (IPBM).

Last June 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the landmark Mental Health Law or Republic Act 11036 which would provide affordable and accessible mental health services to Filipinos.