MANILA: House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chair and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo on Thursday urged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to push for the online consultations or 'TeleKonsulta' as a response to the worsening mental health issues among students, teachers and members of various faculties. Quimbo said online consultations had been successfully applied and implemented in Marikina City. "Nagawa na po natin ito sa Marikina, at naniniwala akong kaya ring ipatupad [ang TeleKonsulta] sa ibang lugar (We have done this in Marikina [City] and I believe it can also be implemented in other places)," Quimbo, also a teacher, said during the briefing on the proposed CHED budget for 2025. She said CHED has a huge responsibility to ensure that all higher education institutions, whether public or private, are offering quality programs for Filipino students. She said all those who finished college courses should be entitled to more opportunities, particularly jobs that will earn them enough income to address their family's daily needs. In her 26 years as college professor at the University of the Philippines, Quimbo said she had been a guide of the youth to fulfilling their dreams. In 2022, the House approved House Bill 6416 seeking to strengthen the mental health services of the state universities and colleges (SUCs). Last March, Senate President Francis Escudero pushed for the passage of the Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill (SB) 2598, or an Act Strengthening Mental Health Services of SUCs. Citing data from the Department of Health in 2018, Escudero said an estimated 15.4 million Filipinos were suffering from depression and 1 million from schizophrenia. SB 2598 requires all SUCs to put up a mental health office 'that shall spearhead mental health programs and projects on the campus.' Source : Philippines News agency