Makabayan bloc calls out Robin's 'weak' youth remark

The Makabayan bloc lawmakers on Thursday called out Senator Robinhood Padilla for downplaying depression and describing today's youth as "weak," with one of them stressing that the mental health crisis is real.

The term “depression” was mentioned by Padilla at the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media hearing on the Children's Safety in Social Media Act on Wednesday, and he said it was not common during his younger years.

"Hindi ko nga alam 'yun eh, kung ano 'yung depression. Ngayon batang maliit, sasabihin I'm depressed. Magulo eh. Kaya sana po pag-usapan po natin ito," he said.

For her part, Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co pointed out that it was "not surprising" that young people today experience depression because of the "daily crisis" in education and corruption.

"Why blame the youth for the problem which was due to the failure of the government to solve it? At least lumalaban ang kabataan," Co said in her statement.

"Totoo ang mental health crisis. Di siya problema ng indibidwal lang. Dapat tugunan 'to ng gobyerno kaysa maghugas kamay."

"Recognizing problems is not weakness. Gen Z is strong enough to see that and fight for change," she said.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago condemned Padilla's "weak" youth remark, saying his view was detrimental to mental health advocacy.

"Ang depresyon at iba pang suliranin sa kalusugan ay hindi imbento ng bagong henerasyon. Matagal na itong umiiral, ngunit noon ay nababalot lamang ng katahimikan, stigma, at kakulangan ng kaalaman," Elago said in the statement.

"Dapat kilalanin ng mga lider ng bansa ang mabibigat na hamon na kanilang kinakaharap: krisis sa edukasyon, kawalan ng trabaho, kahirapan, at patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin. Dagdag pa rito ang walang habas na pagkalat ng misinformation, disinformation, at online abuse sa social media."

The lady solon said that if the government wants to shield children from the negative effects of social media, lawmakers should focus on crafting policies revolving around digital literacy, demanding accountability from big tech companies, providing free and adequate mental health services in schools and communities, and boosting child protection mechanisms.

"Ang isang lipunang may malasakit ay hindi nagtatanong kung bakit nagsasalita ang kabataan tungkol sa depresyon; tinatanong nito kung paano sila higit na masusuportahan," Elago said.