Admittedly, Atty. Gilbert Lauengco is hyped for Project Stigma. “Let’s make sure that the kids know that they should not be defined by their mental health condition.”
The Platform News (TPN), together with government agencies and other stakeholders, launched Project Stigma at the University of the Philippines Diliman last July 8, 2025. A private-public initiative, it aims to erase the stigma surrounding mental health, pushes for legislation, and advocates for the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11036 or the “Mental Health Act.”
Atty. Lauengco knows the urgency because he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When he was a kid, he cut off the wings of dragonflies to see what they would do. While diagnosed late, it’s better late than never because he now knows what to do. Others are not so lucky.
“The people at TPN know someone personally suffering from mental health conditions. I live through it. It was a very difficult journey for me,” Atty. Lauengco said. He then outlined how Project Stigma plans to be every Juan’s mental health champion.
First is implementing RA 11036, removing the stigma surrounding mental health to eliminate the generation gap. Second is through advocacy campaigns published online, followed by legislative measures in partnership with the public and private sector.
“We cannot allow this to go unmitigated. Magkakaproblema tayong malaki if we don’t address it soon. By [coming] together, we’re making people aware. We take it one step at a time,” said Atty. Lauengco.
Everyone has to be involved in the pursuit of addressing mental health in the Philippines, from the national government down to the barangays. It’s proven successful in other countries like Taiwan where the whole-of-nation approach has been adopted to curb crime.
“It became a matter for survival, so Taiwan made a whole-of-nation approach. Binaba nila ‘yung mental health nila to seek out people with tendencies/red flags.
While starting out small, it could lead to something big.
“We’d like to get volunteers to go down to the barangay level. To teach and to coordinate with schools,” Atty. Lauengco said.
“Isang barangay tanod, kapag may nakita siyang bata na nagtatanggal ng pakpak ng tutubi, sasabihan niya, ‘It’s okay not to be okay.’”
