WHEN I ran for a seat in the Senate, I faced so much bashing that, at one point, I broke down publicly. I can relate to being labeled all sorts of cruel words but we must always remember that mental health is for all, a challenge we face, even for us public officers.
Every morning seems to bring another headline: war, shootings, earthquakes, floods, typhoons, and a climate that no longer waits politely at the door. In such a season, good news can appear almost frivolous. It is not. Hope is also public nourishment. A people fed only fear eventually forgets that another future is possible.
This is how I receive the news about 18-year-old Asia Rose Simpson, our Miss World Philippines this year, who recently won the Asia and Oceania Head-to-Head Challenge and secured a Top 40 place. I listened when this young Filipino woman used an international stage to speak about the mental health of children and the healing possibilities of sport and dance.
Asia cited the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) sobering estimate: One in seven adolescents worldwide experiences a mental disorder. These are not simply adult burdens in smaller bodies. Children know anxiety, grief, isolation, bullying and fear, even when they do not yet possess the words to explain them. A child may remain silent and still be asking to be heard.
This is especially urgent as schools confront threats of violence. The Department of Education (DepEd) did not cancel its nationwide active-attack drill; it postponed it to the first week of September because of severe weather conditions and suspended classes. Preparedness must not be abandoned. But mental health experts are correct that drills must never terrorize the children they are meant to protect. They should be age-appropriate, trauma-informed, calm, and supported by psychological first aid, not theatrical simulations that plant new fear.
As budget deliberations approach, mental health cannot remain a slogan printed on a tarpaulin. Republic Act 12080 already calls for school-based mental health programs, care centers and qualified counselors. Congress and the DepEd must now provide the people training and funds that will make the promise real. Every school should be prepared not only for earthquakes, typhoons and armed attacks, but also for the invisible emergencies unfolding inside a child’s mind.
Jails are the loneliest places. When I went to an Iligan prison, I spoke to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and emphasized that even for the strongest, the prophets had mental health trials along the way. With the coming budget season in the House of Representatives and the Senate, jail authorities have reminded that psychosocial and medical facilities are very much needed within prison walls.
The government must allocate more resources to establish more programs addressing mental health.
In Islam, children are an “amanah,” a sacred trust. We must not give up on them because the world has become frightening. We must give them reasons to move, create, speak, seek help and hope. If Asia’s voice helps even one child feel seen, then beyond the stage lights, something beautiful has already won.