The Muntinlupa City government is focusing on mental health issues through community-based programs.
It recently convened the Mental Health Committee aimed at addressing mental health at the grassroots level.
Mayor Ruffy Biazon during the Mental Health Committee meeting (Photo from the Muntinlupa City government)
"We are committed to improve and enhance the mental health program for Muntinlupa," said Mayor Ruffy Biazon.
He added, "Mental health issues can leave us incapacitated, and no one can be safe. Kahit ako, during the height of the pandemic, I was anxious about the future of my family, my health, and how I will perform my function as a public servant. Which is why we must act now, because who knows how many Muntinlupeños are suffering right now?"
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Muntinlupa City Council approved Ordinance 19-031 in 2019 adopting a community and school-based mental health program including providing psychiatric service.
Under the ordinance, CBMH programs provide treatment, therapy, and free psychiatric medicine for depression and suicide prevention and crisis intervention; addiction (drugs/alcohol, smoking, gambling/gadgets); psychological trauma due to violence against women and children (VAWC); anger management; psychosis; and anxiety.
"As such, we have issued Executive Order No. 50 establishing the Mental Health Committee for the integration, implementation, assessment, and monitoring of our local mental health and wellness programs," the mayor added.
Biazon said mental issues can hamper productivity and fulfillment of familial and societal responsibilities.
"It is essential that we give higher importance to the issue of mental health, especially after coming from a pandemic. Many of us, including me, experienced stress, anxiety of the future, fear, and a host of other problems. With CBMH, we can make help for mental health issues more easily accessible for those who need it most," he said.