The City Government of Davao issued on July 29, 2024, Executive Order No. 25 Series of 2024 or “An Order Creating the Technical Working Group for the Drafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the City Ordinance No. 0721-19 or the Mental Health Code of Davao City."
Section 1 provides for the composition of the Technical Working Group.
The city mayor is designated as the Chairperson with the City Health Office as the secretariat.
The members of the TWG are the City Health Office, the Sangguniang Panlungsod-Committee on Health, the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council, the City Planning and Development Office, the Department of Health XI, the Department of Education XI, the Commission on Higher Education XI, the Department of Labor and Employment XI, Southern Philippines Medical Center Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and the Philippine Mental Health Association-Davao Chapter.
Section 2 of the EO defined the duties and responsibilities of the TWG, which is to draft the IRR of the Mental Health Code of Davao City.
Section 3 of the EO provides that the City Health Office shall serve as the secretariat of the TWG and will be tasked to handle all administrative and/or secretarial-related activities. It shall ensure that all meetings are effectively organized and recorded.
Davao City Ordinance No. 0721-19, otherwise known as the Mental Health Code, declared that it is the policy of the City to uphold the right of the people to mental health and encourage mental health consciousness among them.
Section 2 of the Ordinance declares that the City shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to the development of the City Mental Health Care Program and Delivery System to deliver appropriate services and interventions, including the provision of mental health protection, care, treatment, and other essential services to those with mental illness or disability.
The said Ordinance aims to promote a shift from the hospital-based system to a strengthened community-based mental health care delivery system, modernize existing mental health facilities, integrate mental health care in the general health care delivery system, and prevent, treat, and control mental illness at all levels and rehabilitate persons with mental disability, among many others. CIO