discourses using the hashtag #mhactnow wherein netizens raise awareness about why they deem a local mental health law to be important. philippine legislators in the congress and senate have also filed house bill no. 5347 and senate bill no. 2910. senate initiatives to the mental health act include senate bill 2910, filed by senator pia cayetano in 2015 and loren legarda in 2014. in congress, representatives leni gerona-robredo, romero quimbo, ibarra gutierrez, walden bello, karlo alexei nograles, kaka bag-ao and emmi de jesus all introduced house bill 5347, in line with philippine mental health act, in 2015. the original draft underwent 22 versions, upon consultation with stakeholders, patients and family groups. national mental health program the philippines has a national mental health program or mental health policy (administrative order #8 s.2001) signed by then-secretary of the department of health, manuel dayrit. this policy aims to promote a better quality of mental health care in the country, to reduce the burden of mental illness, and to protect the rights of people affected by mental illnesses. programs of the department of health under the mental health policy include the improvement of the promoting of knowledge of mental health, national and local provision of services and facilities regarding the treatment of mental health, support for the research and training on mental health, and other initiatives. the national program management committee and the program development and management teams were organized in order to oversee and manage the development of the program and to create the protocols regarding the specific policies that were implemented. other stakeholders or partners for this program include the philippine psychiatric association (ppa), the national center for mental health (ncmh), the philippine mental health association, and christoffel blindenmission (cbm), an international organization that advocates for disabled people in poor countries. the philippine government spends around 5% of the health budget on mental health, mostly going to the maintenance of mental hospitals. medicine for mental illnesses are provided in government-run mental health institutions. social insurance covers mental health concerns, but only for acute inpatient care. efficacy according to a report done by the world health organization in 2007, access to mental health institutions in the philippines favors those near the national capital region. the majority of the psychiatrists in the country also work in private practice rather than in government facilities. there has not been any increase in the number of beds available for patients in mental health institutions during 2002–2007. regarding research on mental health, there have been several studies done, although not all were published in indexed journals. the available facilities for mental health have also increased throughout the philippines and policies have been implemented to improve the quality of life of mental hospital inpatients. studies on filipino mental health studies and data regarding mental health in the philippines are collected and transmitted from mental health facilities to the government. among the focus of mental health care professionals from both national and international agencies at present include the integration of provisions for mental health care of displaced civilian population due to calamities and wars. victims of calamity disasters and tragedies tax the human mind and spirit and can cause severe mental and emotional breakdowns. losing loved ones and sources of livelihood, such as farmlands and businesses can have mental and emotional effects on survivors. these types of tragedies are common all over the world, and are particularly common in the philippines due to the high levels of poverty. volunteers have provided psychological first aid, beginning with early intervention which is implemented in the immediate aftermath of disaster. it is designed to reduce the initial distress and foster an adaptive mechanism for survivors in all age groups. effective interventions can: restore function and enhance recovery; create a safe and secure environment; reduce uncertainty, fear, and anxiety; and mobilize family and social supports. typhoon ondoy to address the psychosocial concerns of the typhoon victims during ondoy, a task force on mental health psycho-social support (mhpss) was formed headed by the health emergencies management staff of the department of health (doh) as chair and lead agency based on memorandum 15 series of 2008 issued by the national disaster coordinating council (ndcc), and the dswd as co-chair. the members of the task force came from national government agencies (ngas), academe, non-government organizations and faith-based private sectors, with mental health and psycho-social support programs. some of the members of the mhpss task force visited the children in evacuation centers in marikina, philippine sports arena (formerly ultra) and bagong silangan. the children listened to bible stories told by the volunteers, learned songs and played games. likewise, the volunteers encouraged the children to play with toys and draw pictures of their experiences. according to secretary esperanza i. cabral, the mhpss task force conducted psychosocial training and orientation, psychosocial and psycho/spiritual processing, and critical incident stress debriefing to some 8,770 adult-victims of typhoon 'ondoy' who were in evacuation centers, as well as play therapy sessions with 3,075 children-victims and 704 service providers and disaster relief workers. typhoon yolanda the world health organization (who) based in the philippines has been training local health workers in psychological first aid community-based mental health care for addressing mental health needs. one of the latest cases includes the rehabilitation after the typhoon yolanda. health problems still emerged months after the disaster situations. at the presence of a safe place, there would be the experiences of headache and insomnia. there is usually an increase of people reporting with mental health problems 3–6 months after a disaster. the reasons cited for this increase included the trauma caused by the typhoon and also the washed out medications from those who already had mental health problems, whose none maintenance caused relapse. filipina migrant workers as of 2008, filipino women (filipinas) account for around 50 percent of the migrant workers. in 2009, about forty percent of the filipinas who migrated were household service workers. filipina domestic workers are most especially vulnerable to abusive working conditions because of their work's live-in nature. in a study published in 2011, interviewing 500 domestic workers who worked abroad about 55% experienced stress during their time abroad, with more than half also vulnerable to psycho-emotional symptoms during their stay abroad. accordingly, the number of psycho-emotional symptoms decreased while in the philippines compared to when they were abroad. it was the same trend among the psychological manifestations of stress. only three percent sought the help of a mental health professional, with the majority opting to talk to a pastor instead about their psycho-social symptoms. labor migration in the philippines is based on a passive nature, with many seeking to work abroad to escape family division or economic failure. as a result, many perceive one's success as whether they are able to make a new life for themselves abroad. however, the lives they make for themselves abroad aren't always easy. many face barriers and challenges such as language differences abroad and separation from loved ones. migrant work also doesn't always ensure a rise in one's social standing. women who work abroad face social decline in their careers, racial barriers, and gender limitations. furthermore, filpina migrant workers are often denied certain privileges granted to other citizens and workers, often facing exclusion and abuse. for example, in singapore, filipinas are not protected by the employer act and are thus vulnerable to abuse by their employers, such as working longer hours and having to follow harsh regulations. these struggles are made even more evident in the lives of domestic workers and caregivers. filipina migrant workers who take on jobs as caregivers face the challenges of developing emotional bonds with the children they care for. while such bond may fulfill recognition that these women seek in their jobs, they often suffer from deep emotional loss at job termination and detachment from their own families. the move of filpina migrant workers also poses a challenge to their familial relations, especially between husband and wife. these women often face anxiety out of fear that husbands are unable to perform their new role as both the father and mother at home. husbands taking on the domestic role are often seen as a threat to their masculinity and often indulge in extramarital affairs or simply do not take on the duties of their new role. displaced populations it is not uncommon in different nations, especially in a developing country to have minority groups. minority groups as how sociologist louis wirth defines it is, "a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination". those that are displaced populations can be considered as part of minority group since they are singled out in the society. amerasians and mindanao refugees are examples. if "normal" individuals from minority groups are already deprived of some privileges and even rights of a filipino citizen and even human rights at large, how much more those that are mentally ill or psychologically incapacitated how are coming from minority groups. moreover, pop culture, in this day and age, has the power to define what is normal and what is not as far as trends are concerned, leaving the minority groups or those that are in displaced populations with no chance of being defined as normal or well or "ok" compared to the rest. with that stigma, the mental health of these people is affected. hence, it is also aimed that better mental services be provided to them. amerasians amerasians are children abandoned as babies and children of american military personnel from militarily occupied nation-states. as of 2012–2013, about 200,000-250,000 of military amerasians are currently residing in the country. amerasians in the present are a recognizable marginal group. in 2011, the dswd secretary corazon soliman admitted that the nation's top federal welfare agency was no longer providing special assistance or attention to the amerasians. in addition, many traditional ngo's (the philippine children's fund of america, the pearls s. buck foundation, preda, inc.) has reduced or phased out amerasian aid programs or have moved on to servicing current humanitarian needs. insofar, a study was given to more than 50,000 military amerasian children from central luzon for interventions given the traits of depression, elevated anxiety, joblessness, social isolation, substance and alcohol abuse, and housing insecurity. mindanao refugees a study was conducted to conduct a model of mental health care that integrates mental health into primary care for displaced civilians in mindanao. the forty-six year episodes of violence between the government and anti-government groups to civilian displacement in that community. the results showed that simple mental health approaches such as psychological first aid and brief psychotherapy can be integrated into primary health care. brief psychotherapy sessions provided at primary level to patients with common mental disorders can potentially improve patients' symptoms of distress, within a few sessions based from the retrospective analysis of patient data. filipino children based on the who collaborative study on strategies for mental health care, 238 children from sampaloc, manila were screened in the clinic. a total of 68 children were tested positive with a mental illness, where 68 children (14%) possessed a psychiatric syndrome and 5 children (two percent) were intellectually impaired. 36 of the children (15%) possessed both a psychiatric syndrome and intellectual disability. between 12 and 29% of children are diagnosed with mental health problems while entering primary health care.