· 
c 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Third Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENATE 
S.B. No. 2910 
Introduced by SENATOR PIA S. CAYETANO 
'15 
AUG 19 P4 :56 
AN ACT PROMULGATING A NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH POLICY TOWARDS 
THE ENHANCEMENT OF INTEGRATED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, THE 
PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF PERSONS UTILIZING MENTAL HEALTH 
SERVICES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The right of all Filipinos to have a healthy life is protected under Article 2, Section 
15 of the Philippine Constitution which states that "the State shall protect and promote 
the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them."An 
important dimension of this right to health is mental health because "health," as defined 
in the World Health Organization Constitution, is "a state of complete physical, mental, 
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." 
In the Philippines, there are studies that reveal the extent of the mental health 
needs of t.he country's population. The Global School Based Health Survey (WHO 
2011) shows that 16% of students between 13-15 years old have "ever seriously 
considered attempting suicide during the past year" while 13% have "actually attempted 
suicide one or more times during the past year." A study conducted by the Department 
of Health among government employees in Metro Manila revealed that 32% out of 327 
respondents have experienced a mental health problem in their lifetime (DOH 2006). 
Almost one per 100 households (0.7%) has a member with mental disability (DOH-SWS 
2004) while intentional self-harm is the ninth leading cause of death among 20-24 years 
old (DOH 2003). 
Compounding these problems, persons with mental illness are vulnerable to 
abuse in healthcare settings. A recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture 
raised alarm on the prevalence of practices which can be considered "cruel and 
inhumane, degrading treatment" or even torture in health care settings. The report cites 
that persons with psychosocial disabilities, including those with long term sensory and 
intellectual impairments who have been neglected or detained in a variety of settings, 
from psychiatric to social care institutions or other residential centers, may be subject to 
all kinds of abuses or violence. 
It is in this context that international bodies like the WHO have advocated for 
mental health legislation with a "rights-based" approach. In its 2003 document entitled 
"Mental Health Legislation and Human Rights," the WHO noted the following: "(1) 
People with mental disorders constitute a vulnerable section of society. (2) Mental 
health legislation is necessary for protecting the rights of people with mental disorders. 
(3) Mental health legislation is concerned with more than care and treatment. It provides 
a legal framework to address critical mental health issues such as access to care, 
rehabilitation and aftercare, full integration of people with mental disorders into the 


community, and the promotion of mental health in different sectors of society. (4) There 
is no national mental health legislation in 25% of countries with nearly 31% of the 
world's population. (5) Mental health legislation is an integral part of mental health 
policy and provides a legislative framework for achieving the goals of such policy." 
The purpose of this bill is to incorporate and institutionalize comprehensive 
mental health services into the national health system of the Philippines. The aim is to 
render available, accessible, affordable and equitable quality mental health care and 
services to Filipinos, especially the poor, underserved and high-risk population. 
In this context, passage of the Bill is earnestly requested. 
~~P~IA~CAYETANO 


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Third Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
'15 
~UG 19 P4 :56 
SENATE 
S.B. NO. 2910 
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR PIA S. CAYETANO 
AN ACT PROMULGATING A NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH POLICY TOWARDS 
THE ENHANCEMENT OF INTEGRATED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, THE 
PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF PERSONS UTILIZING MENTAL HEALTH 
SERVICES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
1 
ARTICLE I 
2 
TITLE, POLICY, OBJECTIVES AND DEFINITION OF TERMS 
3 
SECTION. 1. Short Title.-This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Mental 
4 
Health Act of 2015". 
5 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates 
6 
that the. State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people, adopt an 
7 
integrated and comprehensive approach to health development giving priority to the 
8 
needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children. 
9 
10 
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on 
11 
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and 
12 
Political Rights, further provide for the right to equality and non-discrimination, dignity 
13 
and respect, privacy and individual autonomy, information and participation of all 
14 
people. 
15 
The State recognizes its obligations as a State-Party to the UN Convention on 
16 
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under Article 4 of the present Convention "to 
17 
ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms 
18 
for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of 
19 
disability." Likewise, the State aligns itself with the UN General Assembly resolution 
20 
46/119 of December 17, 1991, on the Principles for the Protection of Persons with 
21 
Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care that lays down the poliCies 
22 
and guidelines for the protection from harm of persons with mental disabilities and the 
23 
improvement of mental health care. 
24 
In line with all these, it is hereby declared the policy of the State to uphold the 
25 
basic right of all Filipinos to mental health and respect the fundamental rights of people 
26 
who require mental health services. The State thus recognizes that people with mental 
27 
disabilities by virtue of the nature andlor severity of their illness, have specific 
28 
vulnerabilities and therefore need special care that is appropriate to their needs based 
29 
on national and internationally-accepted standards. 
1 


1 
The State commits to the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with 
2 
psychosocial and mental health needs and the belief that addressing their profound 
3 
social disadvantage enhances their significant contribution in the civil, political, 
4 
economic, social and cultural spheres. 
5 
SEC. 3. Objectives. -The objectives of this Act are as follows: 
6 
a) Ensure a community of Filipinos who are mentally healthy, able to contribute 
7 
to the development of the country and attain a better quality of life through access to an 
8 
integrated, well-planned, effectively organized and efficiently delivered mental health 
9 
care system that responds to their mental health needs in equity with their physical 
10 
health needs; 
11 
b) Promote mental health, protection of the rights and freedoms of persons with 
12 
mental health needs and the reduction of the burden and consequences of mental ill-
13 
health, mental and brain disorders and disabilities; and 
14 
c) Provide the direction for a coherent, rational, and unified response to the 
15 
nation's psychosocial and mental health problems, concerns and efforts. 
16 
17 
SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. - For the purpose of this Act, the following terms 
18 
shall be defined as follows: 
19 
a) "Allied Professionals" refer to any formally educated and trained non-mental 
20 
health professionals. 
21 
b) "Carer" refers to a person who mayor may not be the service user's next of kin 
22 
nor relative but maintains a close personal relationship with the service user and 
23 
manifests concern for his welfare. 
24 
c) "Confidentiality" refers to the relationship of trust and confidence created or 
25 
existing between service users and their mental health professionals, mental health 
26 
workers and allied professionals. It also applies to any person who, in any official 
27 
capacity, has acquired or may have acquired such confidential information. 
28 
29 
d) "Legal Representative" refers to a substitute decision-maker charged by law 
30 
with the duty of representing a service user in any specified undertaking or of exercising 
31 
specified rights on behalf of the service user that will redound to the latter's well-being 
32 
taking into consideration the latter's wishes. 
33 
34 
e) "Mental Disability" refers to impairments, activity limitations, and individual and 
35 
participatory restrictions denoting dysfunctional aspects of interaction between an 
36 
individual and his environment. 
37 
f) "Mental Health" refers to a state of well being in which every individual realizes 
38 
his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively 
39 
and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. 
40 
g) "Mental Health Facility" refers to any establishment, or any unit of an 
41 
establishment, which has, as its primary function, mental health care or services. 
42 
2 


1 
h) "Mental Health Professional" refers to a medical doctor, clinical psychologist, 
2 
nurse, social worker or other appropriately trained and qualified person with specific 
3 
skills relevant to mental health care. 
4 
i) "Mental Health Services" refer to psychosocial, psychiatric or neurologic 
5 
activities and programs along the whole range of the mental health support spectrum 
6 
including enhancement, prevention, treatment and aftercare which are provided by 
7 
mental health facilities and mental health professionals. 
8 
j) "Mental Health Workers" refer to trained volunteers or advocates engaged in 
9 
mental health promotion and services under the supervision of mental health 
10 
professionals. 
11 
k) "Mental Illness" refers to neurologic or psychiatric disorder characterized by the 
12 
existence of recognizable, clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, 
13 
emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the neurobiological, 
14 
psychosocial, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Socially 
15 
deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts primarily between the 
16 
individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results for 
17 
a dysfunction in the individual, as described above. 
18 
19 
I) "Mental Incapacity" refers to the: 
20 
1. Absence of mental capacity resulting to the inability to carryon the everyday 
21 
affairs of life or to care for one's person or property with reasonable 
22 
discretion; or 
23 
2. Inability to understand the consequences that his/her decisions and actions 
24 
have for his/her own life or health and for the life and health of others, which 
25 
may be serious and irreversible. 
26 
m) "Psychosocial Problem" refers to a condition that indicates the existence of 
27 
disturbances in the individual's behavior, thoughts and feelings brought about by 
28 
sudden, extreme or prolonged stressors in the physical or social environment. 
29n) "Service user" refers to a person receiving mental health care and includes all 
30 
persons who are admitted to a mental health facility. 
31 
ARTICLE \I 
32 
RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS 
33 
SEC. 5. Rights of Persons with Mental Health Needs. - Without prejudice to 
34 
the provisions of this Act and unless prevented by law, persons with mental health 
35 
needs shall have the r,ight to: 
36 
a) Exercise all their inherent civil, political, economic, social, religious, 
37 
educational and cultural rights respecting individual qualities, abilities and diverse 
38 
backgrounds and without any discrimination on grounds of physical disability, age, 
39 
gender, sexual orientation, race, color, language, civil status, religion or national or 
40 
ethnic or social origin of the service user concerned; 
, 
41 
b) Receive treatment of the same quality and standard as other individuals in a 
42 
safe and conducive environment; 
3 


1 
C) Receive treatment which addresses holistically their needs through a 
2 
multidisciplinary care plan approach; 
3 
d) Receive treatmerit in the least restrictive environment and in the least 
4 
restrictive manner; 
5 
e) Be protected from torture, cruel, inhumane, harmful, discriminatory, or 
6 
degrading treatment; 
7 
f) Receive aftercare and rehabilitation when possible in the community so as to 
8 
facilitate their social inclusion; 
I 
9 
g) Be adequately informed about the disorder and the multidisciplinary services 
10 
available to cater to their needs and the treatment options available; 
11 
h) Actively participate in the formulation of the multidisciplinary treatment plan; 
12 
i) Give free and informed consent before any treatment or care is provided and 
13 
such consent shall be recorded in the service user's clinical record. This is without 
14 
prejudice to the service user's right to withdraw consent; 
15 
j) Acquire a responsible legal representative and carer of their choice consistent 
16 
with Section 3(d), whenever possible; 
17 
k) Confidentiality of all information, communication and records about 
18 
themselves, illness and treatment in whatever form stored, which information shall not 
19 
be revealed to third parties without their consent unless; 
20 
21 
i. There is a law that requires disclosure; 
22 
ii. It can be argued that the person has provided express or implied 
23 
consent to the disclosure; and 
24 
iii. There is good reason to believe that specific persons or groups are 
25 
placed in serious, credible threat of harm if such disclosure is not made. 
26 
27 
I) Be entitled to a competent counsel of his/her own choice. In case he/she 
28 
cannot afford one, the Public Attorney's Office or any legal aid institution of his/her own 
29 
choice will assist him/her. 
30 
ARTICLE III 
31 
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 
32 
SEC. 6. Duties and Responsibilities of the Department of Health (DOH.) - It 
33 
is the duty and responsibility of the DOH to: 
34 
a) Ensure conditions for a safe, therapeutic and hygienic environment with 
35 
sufficient privacy in mental health facilities and shall be responsible for the 
36 
licensing, monitoring and assessment of all mental health facilities; 
37 
b) Ensure that all public and private mental health facilities are protecting the 
38 
rights of service users against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and/or 
39 
torture; and 
40 
c) Develop alternatives to 
institutionalization, such as community-based 
41 
treatment with a view of receiving persons discharged from hospitals. 
. 
4 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
2S 
26 
27 
28 
SEC. 7. Duties and Responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights 
(CHR). - It is the duty and responsibility of the CHR to: 
a) Establish mechanisms to investigate alleged improprieties and abuses in the 
use of involuntary interventions and recommend appropriate charges against the 
perpetrators; 
b) Inspect all places where psychiatric service users are held for involuntary 
treatment or otherwise, to ensure full compliance with domestic and international 
standards governing the legal basis for treatment and detention, quality of 
medical care, and living standards; 
c) Appoint a Focal Commissioner for Mental Health under the CHR to ensure that 
the rights of service users and their carers, as well as the rights of mental health 
. professionals and workers are protected in accordance with our national laws 
and 
international obligations. The Focal Commissioner shall, whenever 
necessary and if there are findings of human rights violations committed by the 
mental health facility and/or any mental health professional and mental health 
worker, recommend civil, administrative or penal actions to appropriate agencies. 
SEC. 8. Duties and Responsibilities of National and Local Mental Health 
Facilities. - It is the duty and responsibility of national and local mental health facilities 
to: 
a) Inform service users of their rights. Every service user, whether admitted for 
voluntary or involuntary treatment, should be fully informed about the treatment to be 
prescribed and the reason for recommending it and be given the opportunity to refuse 
treatment or any other medical intervention. Informed consent must be sought from all 
service users at all times except in instances of mental incapacity as defined in Section 
4' , 
b) Ensure that guidelines and protocols for minimizing restrictive care are 
established; 
29 
c) Keep a register on involuntary treatment and procedures; and 
30 
d) Ensure that the decision for the need for a legal representative or substitute 
31 
decision-maker shall be made only for reasons of mental incapacity and shall be made 
32 
following established judicial procedures which should ensure that the rights, will and 
33 
preferences of the service users are respected as far as possible; and 
34 
. ARTICLE IV 
3S 
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY 
36 
SEC. 9. Local Mental Health Service. -
Mental health service of local 
.37 
communities shall, within the general health care system, include the following: 
38 
a. Development, integration and implementation of mental health care at the 
39 
primary health care in the community; and 
40 
41 
b. Advocacy and promotion of mental health awareness among the general 
42 
population in the community level. 
43 
5 


1 
ARTICLE V 
2 
EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
3 
4 
SEC. 10. Integration of Mental Health/Psychiatry in the Curricula. - Mental 
5 
health/psychiatry shall be a required subject in all medical and allied health courses, 
6 
including postgraduate courses in health. 
7 
SEC. 11. Research and Development. - Research and development shall be 
8 
undertaken, in collaboration with academic institutions, mental health associations and 
9 
non-government organizations, to develop appropriate and culturally relevant mental 
10 
health services. 
11 
12 
ARTICLE VI 
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
13 
SEC. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations (lRR). -Within (90) days from 
14 
the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Health shall, in coordination with the 
15 
Philippine Mental Health Council, as created in Executive Order No. 470 series of 1998, 
16 
formulate the implementing rules and regulations necessary for the effective 
17 
implementation of this Act. 
18 
SEC. 13. Appropriations.- The amount necessary to carry out the initial 
19 
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriation of 
20 
the DOH. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued 
21 
implementation of this Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
22 
SEC. 14. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
23 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
24 
remain valid and subsisting. 
25 
SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. -Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
26 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative rule or regulation contrary to or 
27 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended 
28 
accordingly. 
29 
SEC. 16. 
Effectivity -
This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days upon its 
30 
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation. 
31 
Approved, 
6