The Department of Education's mental health programs will get a P210 million allocation in the 2024 national budget—which is seen to address the issues of suicide among learners.

This was assured by Senator Win Gatchalian on Thursday as he lamented at least 1,686 learners have died due to suicide between School Year 2017-2018 and SY 2022-2023.

While some 7,892 learners attempted suicide in the same period.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, originally proposed P160 million for the DepEd's implementation of mental health programs in various schools nationwide.

"Mahalagang matutukan natin ang pagpapatibay at epektibong pagpapatupad ng mga programa ng ating mga paaralan para sa mental health kaya tiniyak natin na sa ilalim ng 2024 budget, makakapaglaan tayo ng pondo para sa mga programa ng DepEd para sa mental health (It is necessary that mental health programs would be strengthen and effectively implemented in schools, that's why we push to allocate funds for DepEd's mental health program in 2024)," the senator said.

Citing the international large-scale assessments, Gatchalian said the government should acknowledge that there is a high prevalence of bullying in various schools in the country, which is usually blamed for the increasing suicide attempts among Filipino learners.

The 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) data revealed that compared to their peers in Southeast Asia, the Philippines' Grade 5 learners had the highest exposure to bullying (63.2 percent), aggression (9.2 percent), violence (12.3 percent), and offensive behavior (28.8 percent).

The latest round of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) also indicated that one in three fifteen-year-old learners experienced being bullied at least once a week.
Despite the number of Filipino learners who experienced bullying decreased between 2018 to 2022, the DepEd emphasized that bullying remains a pervasive problem, "especially in public schools and more so for boys."

The PISA report also revealed that learners who were bullied at least a few times a month scored 11 to 44 points lower in mathematics.

Hence, Gatchalian reiterated the need for the enactment of Senate Bill 2200, or Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, to institutionalize the School-Based Mental Health Program.

The Senate earlier approved SB 2200 on the third and final reading in September and is now pending the approval of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.