The real cost of mental health care in the Philippines

The article from CNN talks about the condition and issues residing in the National Center for

Mental Health. The sad truth is that the NCMH is the biggest mental hospital in the Philippines carrying

4,200 beds with various buildings and facilities scattered across a vast expanse of land but it is

perpetually for sale which means no funding was given to the hospital and even considered dilapidated.

The NCMH was managed by, Dr. Bernardino Vicente, who has been the director of NCMH for 19 years

he said that the content of the Mental Health Act of 2017 would not cater to the needs of the mental

hospitals in the Philippines. This newly approved Senate Bill No. 1354 or the Mental Health Act of 2017

sponsored by Sen. Risa Hontiveros may help NCMH to get adequate funds, as the bill mandates the

Department of Health (DOH) to provide psychiatric and neurological psychosocial services to all regional,

provincial, and tertiary hospitals. Yet, Dr. Vicente is not convinced with this newly approved bill he

suggested that it must focus on the services that can be offered since the rights of mental health

patients are already covered by the anti-torture law. One of the patients inside the NCMH shares his

experience inside the facility, Mr. Robert diagnosed with schizophrenia said that, with the help of

NCMH, I am developing skills, I used to be a bad salesman, I used to work as a real estate person, so

here, I learned how to market, how to barter, how to haggle with customers.” Dr. Vicente emphasized

community-based mental health services are imperative in making mental health services more

accessible to people outside of the city, he still thinks that talking about human rights at this time in the

Philippines is futile. The advent of a law that would focus on providing services, like psychosocial

programs and activities to mentally challenged people like Mr. Robert, would help them recover and

have a normal life. Mr. Robert said that “It's not my fault I have my illness either so I don't blame myself,

I don't blame my family, I don't blame society. It just happens, tough luck, I had an illness. So, you know,

you attack the illness.”  The government must delve into the real issues concerning mental health,
because what will always hold true is the persistence of patients who, day in and day out, fight to silence

the monsters in their minds.