The Philippines’ justice secretary is urging “spiritual leaders” to help address a rising number of suicide cases due to retrenchment and job loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Menardo Guevarra, also a member of the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said he had received a call from its chief implementer Carlito Galvez, who described the rate of suicides in the Philippines as “alarming.”
Speaking to reporters on Aug. 23, Guevarra said the call prompted the government to call on the Catholic Church and other religious groups to provide counseling and guidance to citizens suffering from anxiety and depression.
“I call on our respected religious leaders to please shepherd your flock. We are in a very difficult situation. The pandemic is a problem that cannot be resolved only by science or any government. We need faith and spiritual nourishment, too,” Gueverra said.
A World Health Organization (WHO) study revealed that mental health-related concerns and disorders in the Philippines had “drastically” increased since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The WHO said Philippine mental health authorities received an average of 30-35 calls daily from March to May due to depression issues compared with 13-15 daily calls from May 2019 to February 2020.
“This is markedly higher than the 400 monthly average calls from May 2019 to February 2020 or before the pandemic hit the Philippines … the monthly average calls related to suicide also increased to 45 calls per month as of May 31, 2020,” the study said.
“Facing the reality that there’s no vaccine available yet to prevent the continuous spread of the novel coronavirus, coupled with the still increasing number of positive cases, and not knowing when exactly the virus will be defeated is a daunting prospect for many. Thinking of whether life will ever return to normal, and how one will survive amid the pandemic, are some of the questions making ordinary Filipinos very anxious,” the WHO study said.
Secretary Guevarra also said the Catholic Church could remind churchgoers to be “hopeful” and “have faith” to surpass the challenges brought by the virus.
“I share Galvez’s concern and respectfully request our spiritual leaders to bring this much-needed message of hope to our suffering countrymen in order to stave off more incidents of self-destruction,” Guevarra added.
Acting president of the Catholic bishops’ conference, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, said dioceses could set up online or phone-in counselling sessions for those suffering from depression.
“We launched our own hopeline in June so that we’ll be able to help our people in the diocese when they need the guidance of a priest or a psychiatrist,” he said.
Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said allowing more churchgoers to attend Mass could bring spiritual nourishment.
“I have said this before. Mass and other spiritual services are essential activities during this pandemic. While observing proper protocols and physical distancing, we can help ease the burden on people by bringing them closer to the Lord,” he said.
