By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THE city council’s committees on women and family relations, education, and social services on Wednesday started hearings into the string of suicides in the city.
At least 23 people killed themselves in the city recently and the cases were a cause for alarm, said Councilor Edna Dahino, chairperson of the committee on women and family relations.
It was Dahino who called for a joint meeting after Councilor Edgar Cabanlas brought the concern to the attention of the city council.
“Atong gusto niini nga makahimo kita’g mga pamaagi unsaon nato nga dili na kini mausab kay kon ang atong mga teachers mao ang biktima sa depression, unsa may kaugmaon sa atong mga kabata-an?” Dahino told the three committees.
The joint meeting was attended by City Schools Division superintendent Cherry Mae Limbaco, public school teachers, officers of the Parents and Teachers’ Associations, and a representative from the church, among others.
Limbaco told the committees that that she agreed that the number of suicides in the city is alarming, and the education department is hiring additional guidance counselors so they could help in addressing the problem on depression.
But she said one of the challenges of Deped is the low salary grade for the position.
Meanwhile, Dahino said her committee would submit a proposal for the construction of a P100-million Gender and Development Center in the city. She said it would serve as a facility for mental health wellness, complete with psychiatrists and psychologists with salaries paid for by city hall.
She said the proposed facility could be built on the new Ecopark in Upper Dagong, Carmen, this city.
