CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luigi Villafuerte has filed a bill requiring the deployment of mental health professionals to all public schools and State Universities and Colleges (SUC) following the spate of violent incidents in public educational institutions.
Villafuerte filed House Bill No. 163 or “Mental Health and Digital Wellbeing for Youth Act of 2025” following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order for the Department of Education to investigate, with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), the alarming incidents of school-based violence.
The President has also already ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to assist in evaluating the implementation of child protection policies in public schools.
The lawmaker said the recent incidents have raised the need to craft legislation to “better help public elementary to tertiary schools deal with mental issues affecting Filipino students.”
Villafuerte said the government needs to assign in each public elementary to high school along with every campus of SUCs a guidance counselor, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or any other licensed mental health professional “available for counselling students, as a way to help reverse the disturbingly increasing rates of depression, anxiety and even self-harm or suicidal ideation among young Filipinos.”
“With the psychological well-being of our adolescents and young people emerging as a critical public health issue—apparently aggravated by academic pressures, cyberbullying and other risks spawned by digital technologies—licensed professionals should be assigned to every public school and SUC campus to ensure that our students have available and ready access in school to professional counselling, early intervention and emotional support from these professionals or experts,” he said.
HB No. 163 seeks to mandate the deployment of mental health professionals within three years in coordination with the Departments of Education (DepEd) and of Health (DOH) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
The bill provides for “annual mental health screenings, the establishment of safe spaces for emotional processing, and training programs for teachers in trauma-informed and empathy-based approaches.”
Just last Aug. 4, a Grade 11 student in Lanao del Sur shot a teacher dead after receiving failing grades, while a nine-year-old Grade 3 student in Northern Mindanao was rushed to a hospital after being mauled by five high school students last August 10.
Last Aug. 7, a 15-year-old female student was shot inside a classroom in Nueva Ecija by an ex-boyfriend, who then shot himself dead. The victim fell into a coma and later died.
Villafuerte said the mental health of students has “emerged as a critical public health issue, amplified by academic pressures, the psychological aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pervasive influence of digital technologies.”
“Increasing rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal ideation among students have been documented in multiple studies and echoed by educators and healthcare professionals nationwide,” he said. “The rise of socmed (social media) and digital platforms has introduced new and poorly regulated risks ranging from addictive design and algorithmic manipulation to cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content that directly affect the psychological well-being of children and adolescents.”
Camarines Sur Rep. Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Luigi’s elder brother, filed HB No. 1700, which also seeks to require the presence of mental health professionals in schools “to provide counselling and emotional support to students, given the rising rates of depression and anxiety, exacerbated by digital technology.”
The elder Villafuerte cited a 2022 report by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Philippines, which showed that more than 30 percent of Filipino adolescents have experienced online harassment or cyberbullying.
The same report said that “excessive screen time, algorithm-driven content, and addictive design features have been linked to the youth’s sleep disruption, emotional dysregulation and lowered academic performance.”
The Villafuerte brothers’ bills also seek to mandate the DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to integrate Digital Detox Week into the official school calendar starting School Year (SY) 2026—2027 to give time to a series of activities “designed to promote offline connections, creative expression, nature engagement and digital self-regulation.”
