‘From all indications, the government’s bid to address social media addiction among Filipino youth is about to fail – unless the DOH and the DICT do their fair share.’
FOR the longest time, the government has been at the receiving end of criticisms from where improvement plans are drawn – and executed.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case in two cabinet agencies which appeared to have adopted a policy of keeping their lips sealed and letting time alone bury the hatchet. In some cases, government officials would rather tap PR consultants to “kill” legitimate issues hurled against them.
For several weeks, we have been discussing social media addiction among Filipino youth. In fairness, there were agencies that responded to our queries in view of alarming data which seemed to prove that the mental health issue deserves attention from the government.
The Department of Education (DepEd) admitted that addressing social media addiction among students is a matter of urgency. They’ve in fact provided their own data confirming the magnitude of the problem – and presented plans and programs to deal with the issue.
We were also able to solicit inputs from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stumbled upon studies of international and local mental health organizations and interviewed several mental healthcare professionals.
Legislators also did what is well within their ambit – file a legislative bill regulating use of modern-day gadgets and social media access among students. The legislative proposal, however, didn’t merit the concurrence of the collegial body.
Just very recently, my request for an audience from the congressional group behind the legislative proposal seeking to regulate the excessive use of mobile gadgets and access on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, ChatGPT and other digital platforms among students was warmly accorded by Tingog partylist Rep. Jude Acidre, who spoke on the urgent need to address the mental health menace among youngsters.
Acidre said that he and fellow Tingog partylist nominee, Rep. Yedda Romualdez, a former beauty queen and, of course, the loving wife of Speaker Martin Romualdez, intend to re-file a better version of the Online Safety Act with an assurance to incorporate suggestions of UNICEF, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara and yours truly.
According to Acidre, Tingog Partylist shall re-file the Magna Carta of Children as well. The interview with Acidre was made possible through the kindness of his chief of staff, Atty. Cesar Ong.
After hearing his piece, I have this inkling that Acidre is not infected by the “teka lang” syndrome of two cabinet honchos, DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa and DICT Secretary Ivan Uy. It’s perhaps safe to assume that Acidre is well-versed on the issue and from how I see it, he’s more of a techie which to my belief is way better than teka!
Conspicuously missing are inputs from the Department of Health and the Department of Information and Communication Technology – two agencies that should have been at the battlefront in the government war against the socmed-induced mental health menace among Filipino youth.
For one, Executive Order No. 292 series of 1987 (Instituting the Administrative Code of 1987) specifically provides that the DOH “shall be primarily responsible for the formulation, planning, implementation, and coordination of policies and programs in the field of health.”
Notably, the DICT is the government’s primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity mandated to plan, develop, and promote the national ICT development agenda.
From all indications, the government’s bid to address social media addiction among Filipino youth is about to fail – unless the DOH and the DICT do their fair share.
