House Deputy Majority Leader Luigi Villafuerte believes that the government has to set aside a much bigger outlay for hiring and assigning guidance counselors and other mental health professionals to all public elementary and high schools plus state universities and colleges (SUCs) to help students deal with mental health issues—and hopefully turn back the alarming upsurge in campus bullying.
Villafuerte said, “The 20th Congress can best deal with this serious concern by writing new legislation to institutionalize the hiring of mental health experts for counselling students in schools, in the hope of arresting not only the increasing rates of depression, anxiety and even self-harm or suicidal ideation among young Filipinos but of campus bullying as well.”
The Camarines Sur representative and former governor made this proposal after Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara proposed at a recent House hearing on the proposed 2026 education budget a bigger outlay for creating more slots for hiring counselor associates to advise students on issues like campus bullying.
For next year, the DepEd has proposed an over P2-billion budget for the hiring of 10,000 school counselor associates 1 (SCA 1) to counsel students on their mental health and well-being concerns.
Angara said the DepEd wants to create more slots for counselor associates amid the surge in campus bullying cases, which went up to 2,500 in schoolyear (SY) 2024-2025 from the previous 2,268.
Villafuerte noted that in recent years, the mental health of young Filipinos 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.”
To address the lack of guidance counselors in schools in the face of rising cases of campus bullying, Angara said the DepEd scrapped over 4,000 positions so it can have funds available for hiring more counselor associates.
“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,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said that in House Bill (HB) No. 163, he is proposing “the deployment of licensed mental health professionals such as psychologists, guidance counselors or psychiatric nurses to every public high school and SUC campus within three years, in coordination with the DepEd, DOH (Department of Health) and CHED (Commission on Higher Education).”
Otherwise known as the “Mental Health and Digital Wellbeing for Youth Act of 2025,” HB 163 mandates annual mental health screenings, the establishment of safe spaces for emotional processing, and training programs for teachers in trauma-informed and empathy-based approaches.
He filed HB 163 as President Marcos ordered just recently the DepEd to investigate with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine National Police (PNP) the alarming incidents of school-based violence, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to assist in evaluating the implementation of child protection policies in all schools.
Rep. Migz Villafuerte, also a former CamSur governor, has filed a separate bill—HB 1700—that likewise tackles mental health and the need for 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.
In HB 1700, Migz mentioned a 2022 report by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Philippines showing that more than 30% of Filipino adolescents have experienced online harassment or cyberbullying, and 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.
Both HB 163 and HB 1700 direct the DepEd and CHED to integrate into the official school calendar starting SY 2026—2027 an annual “Digital Detox Week, which is a week-long series of activities designed to promote offline connections, creative expression, nature engagement and digital self-regulation.
House Bill (HB) No. 163 is proposing “the deployment of licensed mental health professionals such as psychologists, guidance counselors or psychiatric nurses to every public high school and SUC campus within three years, in coordination with the DepEd, DOH (Department of Health) and CHED (Commission on Higher Education).”
Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in an earlier press briefing at Malacañang Palace that President Marcos had ordered an investigation into school-based violence “especially since (these involve) minors and mental health is becoming an issue among the youth.
Angara had instructed all schools, meanwhile, to strengthen their mechanisms for reporting and addressing incidents involving bullying along with child abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination and gang-related activities on campus.
President Marcos and Angara had ordered such separate actions in response to at least three incidents of school-based violence perpetrated by students last month.
Last August, a nine-year-old Grade 3 student in Northern Mindanao was rushed to a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) after being reportedly mauled by five high school students.
That same month, a Grade 11 student who was allegedly upset over failing grades shot dead a teacher in a school in Lanao del Sur; and, days later, a 15-year-old female student was shot dead inside a classroom in Nueva Ecija by her former boyfriend, who then shot himself dead after shooting her.
Luigi Villafuerte noted that in recent years, the mental health of young Filipinos 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,” Luigi said.
At the same time, 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.”
