Following the recent passage of HB 6452, or the Comprehensive Mental Health Bill, by the House of Representatives on its third and final reading, bill co-author, Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron P. Salo, put out a release where he expressed hopes of having the bill signed into law by early 2018.

“I hope a [bicameral] conference can convene this December and February,” he said. “If both chambers move fast enough, we could have the law on mental health by March next year.”

The legislation is a combination of a myriad of other bills focused on mental health, including HB 1040, which Salo penned.

He is seeking the establishment of a “national mental health care delivery system.”

The partylist representative believes the bill will allow people to “come out of the shadows of social stigma.”

“The Department of Health [estimates] on fatal suicide in the country is five Filipinos every day,” Salo noted, however, he believes the number is under-reported, which he credited to “social stigma attached to suicide and mental health problems.”

Meanwhile, the Senate passed SB 1354, or the Mental Health Bill, earlier this year./PLL, WDJ